Loic Rogers, 3, drowned last week in septic tank at home in Evergreen

The Daily Inter Lake

For many people, septic tanks are an invisible, innocuous part of everyday life.

Nothing to notice, nothing most families want to focus on. Routine maintenance typically keeps them off the homeowner's radar screen.

But last week, a damaged septic tank lid spelled tragedy for young Loic Rogers.

After two days of looking for the missing 3-year-old, searchers found he had drowned inside the 750-gallon tank at a home on Maple Drive in north Evergreen.

Authorities have not determined whether the tank's damaged lid was the reason he ended up inside it.

One thing is clear, however: If the lid had been securely fastened in place, even the determined little boy could not have slipped in during just a couple minutes of the gathering dark Jan. 24.

Flathead County Sheriff Mike Meehan said that, during the last week of December, a vehicle at Tommie Cates' home on Maple Drive had backed into the riser - in this case, a corrugated reinforced-fiberglass-plastic access tube that rises from the buried septic tank.

Other septic designs use concrete risers and lids, but those in the Evergreen sewer district are plastic for easier access.

"I'm fine with the design of the lid," said Joe Russell, Flathead City-County Health Department director. "My thinking is it was broken … I don't care whether it's concrete or fiberglass. I care that those lids are properly secured, whether it's a manhole lid with weight that can't be lifted, or old concrete lids or [plastic which is] secured in the proper fashion."

In the case of Cates' tank, the plastic riser extended about 8 inches above ground, Meehan said.

The vehicle's impact cracked that exposed mounting, so the four screws used to attach the reinforced fiberglass plastic lid no longer fit. The driver pledged to fix the damage, Meehan said, but that had not happened.

On the night of Jan. 24, Meehan said, searchers found the lid atop its riser but not secured.

They removed the lid and used the Evergreen Fire Department's probe to do a grid search through the effluent and sludge in the tank, but found nothing.

Two nights later, when the effluent was drained, the child's body floated to the surface apparently from the opposite end of the tank, Meehan said.

On Saturday afternoon, after Meehan released the home and yard from its crime-scene status, he said Evergreen sewer workers replaced the riser and lid.

That's the way all damage should be handled, Roberta Struck said.

Struck, general manager for Flathead County Water and Sewer District No. 1, Evergreen, said her office had not logged a report of the damage at Cates' home.

"Normally when a septic is damaged," she said, "we get over there and repair it - that day if possible."

The district repairs and maintains tanks, risers, lids and piping out to the street. Homeowners are responsible for everything between the tank and house.

Sometimes their meter readers spot and report damage, but Struck said the district depends on residents' reports.

"We could look at one today and it would be fine, and then it gets broken tomorrow," Struck said.

Tony Quinnell wants to alert homeowners to the unique requirements of this design in hopes of preventing heartache.

"It takes an Allen wrench, and it takes four stainless screws to open the lid," said Quinnell, who has experience with similar water storage tanks, and some septics, through his Montana Well and Pump Service on Trumble Creek Road.

"If anyone takes them off and they don't replace them, a kid can remove the lid," Quinnell said.

The weight of the plastic lid ranges from a pound or 2 to 10 or 15 pounds.

Certified contractors know proper installation, Quinnell said.

"This design is located all over the Evergreen area," he said. "Almost all new septic systems in the Flathead Valley area have this design."

He said a 2006 county ordinance requires in-tank pumps, and the lid design allows easy access.

"They're considered a safe design if the screws are left in place," Quinnell said. The self-tapping screws are stainless steel and will not corrode or back out of the holes on their own after being installed, he said.

But, even when damage does not compromise the lid assembly, he can understand why screws may be out of place.

"When they put the screws in at the factory, they will drill and tap them. Unless those four screws are lined up exactly as they are drilled at the factory, people will get frustrated at not being able to get them back on," he said, and might be tempted to simply set the lid atop the riser.

He also said weather could complicate things, especially with the ice this winter has brought.

Quinnell said a similar septic-tank lid at his son's house sits slightly below ground level, and an ice ring easily forms in the concave area surrounding the lid. A loose lid combined with that slippery footing, he said, could land someone in the tank.

"I can just see it happening, and I can just see the lid falling back in place after they slide right back in there," Quinnell said. "The only thing I can't see if it was way above ground."

Both Quinnell and Struck offered some advice for all homeowners with their own septic systems.

"People should look and see if their lid is bolted down, see whether it is broken," Struck said. "We've had several calls since then."

In fact, she welcomes residents' calls to the Evergreen sewer district - at 257-5861.

Whether residents live inside or outside the Evergreen district, Quinnell urged some homeowner diligence and a call to certified septic installers when warranted.

"Everybody should go and check these [plastic lids] that have them in their yard, and see if the screws are in there," Quinnell said. "If not, call for service."

Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com