To the editor:

I’m not surprised to read Friday that fecal bacteria is entering the ocean from failed septic systems at Seal Rock and elsewhere along the beaches of Lincoln County.

A public health division rule clearly states, “Sewage and wastewater must be disposed of into a public sewerage system in a manner approved by the Department of Environmental Quality.”

This is not being done by short-term rentals on septic systems.

Public Health Division Chapter 333, Division 29: Travelers accommodations need to be enforced by the Lincoln County board of commissioners.

Please Lincoln County commissioners, stop running from the issues when it comes to short-term rentals, and govern like the Lake Chelan (Wash.) County commissioners are doing right now when it comes to enforcing laws already on their books that deal with how they govern short-term rentals in their unincorporated county.

Lincoln County residents want to see commissioners working for them, the voter, not the outside influence brought on by the profitable short-term rental industry.

333-029-0015 Definitions: (10) “Travelers’ Accommodation” includes any establishment, which is not a hostel, having rooms, apartments or sleeping facilities rented or kept for rent on a daily or weekly basis to travelers or transients for a charge or fee paid or to be paid for rental or use of facilities.
333-029-0080 Sewage Disposal: (1) Travelers’ accommodations and hostels must provide an adequate and safe sewerage system. (2) Sewage and wastewater must be disposed of into a public sewerage system in a manner approved by the Department of Environmental Quality.

— Rebecca Hayden, Bayshore