A formal policy to prevent future use of septic spray fields for school activities will be the final result of Sandy Creek High School's cross country track controversy last year.

School superintendent Dave Brotherton told the Fayette County Board of Health Tuesday that he will formalize the school system's health policies and bring them to the board for review at next month's meeting, March 9 at 7:30 a.m. Brotherton also is member of the health board.

"We weren't very concerned about beating a dead horse," said environmental health director Rick Fehr following the meeting, "but we are very interested in every reasonable precaution being taken in the future," he added.

A policy telling who is in charge of such facilities and procedures to prevent problems will bring a close to the health board's investigation into the problem, he said.

Parental concern bubbled to the surface last fall when it was discovered that Sandy Creek has been conducting track meets along the perimeter of a septic spray field that serves the school and two others that make up the Sandy Creek school complex.

The state Environmental Protection Division raised concerns as early as 1997, but Brotherton said he didn't receive that letter and only became aware of those concerns when the state agency repeated its comments in a letter last October.

School officials have stopped using the spray fields for athletic events and have contracted to erect a fence around the property.

Fehr said health board members are concerned that some comments made following the incident may have treated the situation too lightly. Sewage sprayed onto septic spray fields is treated, he said, but may still contain dangerous bacteria and viruses that cause infections and other health problems.

Such problems are not expected to be long-term ones, said Fehr, "but if during the time your child was running on those fields there were any problems that could be related to that, then it might be important to share that information with any physician who is treating current problems," he said.

It's not something to get overly worked up about, he cautioned. "If it was a panic situation, we would be saying it was a panic situation," he said.

"The main thing is that it is being addressed," he added.

As to how the situation developed in the first place, health board member Lynn Redwood has done extensive research, but said she can't quite put a finger on it.

The schools' septic system was originally permitted as a "reuse facility," meaning treated sewage could be sprayed on athletic fields, golf courses, etc. Since then, though, the standards for reuse have been tightened and the facility no longer qualifies, she said.

Records show that school officials rejected the idea of spraying effluent directly on football and other athletic fields, but at some point the cross country teams were allowed to run around the spray fields. "Who made those decisions, I haven't been able to establish," she said.

Meanwhile, she said, the septic facility has sometimes failed to meet EPD standards in recent monitoring. "They've been in violation of their permit," she said.