Missoula County requires retroactive permit for Holland Lake wastewater system

Missoula Public Health has ordered the Forest Service to reapply retroactively for a permit to operate a wastewater lagoon for the Holland Lake Lodge and its neighboring campgrounds after it violated county code.

To get the permit, the department said the Forest Service must get Montana Department of Environmental Quality approval. Any changes, additional structures or streams added to the system since 2001 must be revealed too, the letter said.

The wastewater lagoon sits roughly 1,000 feet away from Holland Lake. DEQ has required the Forest Service to do a study of the lagoon after the nonprofit Save Holland Lake made an official complaint to the state, the Pathfinder previously reported.

DEQ engineers then wrote to the Forest Service in August that a study must be completed for the lagoon. If wastewater was leaking from it, and entering one of Montana's most pristine waterways, the Forest Service would be violating state law.

A water balance study has yet to be released, as the Forest Service was granted an extension from September to November.

Save Holland Lake then obtained photos of Forest Service employees fixing tears in the lagoon liner in 2022. The photos were the first time the county health department was aware of any maintenance done at the lagoon.

Missoula County Environmental Health Specialist Kyle Crapster wrote in the Oct. 2 letter that the Forest Service violated Missoula County code by not obtaining a permit to repair the liner of the lagoon in 2022.

"Missoula City-County Health Department is responsible for ensuring that environmental and human health is not negatively impacted by wastewater treatment and disposal systems," Crapster wrote. "No person may install, modify, repair, replace, or increase use of a wastewater treatment and disposal system within Missoula County without first obtaining a permit from the Department."

Region One Public Information Officer Dan Hottle said the USDA Forest Service continues to work with Montana DEQ on the regulatory procedures regarding the operation of the Holland Lake Lodge wastewater treatment system.

"We remain committed to protecting the water quality of the area and will work with our partners to perform the necessary testing as soon as possible," Hottle said in an email.

The Holland Lake Lodge is currently updating its special use permit to change ownership to E-3 destinations, a subsidiary of POWDR, a Utah ski resort company. POWDR also submitted an application to triple the lodges' footprint last year, but was denied after public scrutiny over the expansion. .

The application for expansion would have left the lagoon as it was, arguing that the wastewater system was sufficient. POWDR also proposed to add more connections to the lagoon without expanding it, something that caught the eye of DEQ.