As Wyoming officials defend their approval of an upscale tent hotel on state land near Teton Village, the state’s own regulators allege the glamping resort is polluting groundwater.
Tammah — a hotel of 11 canvas-covered geodesic domes constructed by Utah-based Basecamp Hospitality — must stop using a “sand mound septic system,” the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality states in a violation notice. The DEQ’s Oct. 29 order requires operators of the 4-acre complex, which has been open since spring, to haul waste off-site until problems are fixed or face fines of up to $10,000 a day.
The pollution charge comes as the state officials who approved the glamping permit defend in court their decision to block local electrical and fire inspections at Tammah. The Wyoming Board of Land Commissioners have faced criticism for permitting the septic system in a sensitive environment. Critics say the county, not the state, must approve such small-scale facilities and that the system was built too close to wetlands.
“It appears Basecamp is being cavalier about public health and environmental quality.”
Luther Propst
“Hate to say it, but ‘we told you so,’” said Dan Heilig, senior policy advisor for Protect our Water Jackson Hole, a group that opposed the development.
High ammonia levels in a monitoring well — first observed in May — alerted DEQ inspectors. The monitoring wells were “something we pushed DEQ hard for” as the hotel was being developed, Heilig said.
Tammah selected “the worst possible place in the world for a septic system,” Heilig said. “Without the monitoring well, we wouldn’t know.”
Effluent of the affluent
Tammah is located in the Fish Creek drainage, a Class 1 watershed that state environmental rules seek to protect. The area is already impaired with E. coli, an indicator of fecal pollution. Critics say the glamping development will further degrade the groundwater that many residents use domestically.
Tammah operator Basecamp, which states its goal is “to preserve the land around us” while offering “the ultimate fusion of wilderness and comfort,” said it will comply with the state order.
“Basecamp has promptly taken measures to address the concern raised by the DEQ,” the company said in a statement. “We are committed to environmental stewardship and protecting the natural resources of this beautiful community.”
Groundwater from the monitoring well met Class I standards in May, the DEQ reported. In September, however, monitoring revealed a concentration of 2.26 mg/L. That’s more than four times Wyoming’s standard of 0.5 mg/L., an amount recommended by the National Academy of Sciences. Ammonia is toxic to aquatic life.
State investigators visited Tammah 24 days after receiving the sample and found “water present at the center east side of the sand mound septic system … an indication that the … system is not operating correctly.” The effluent “should percolate downward and not outward,” the notice states.
A follow-up water test showed 3.86 mg/L of ammonia in the monitoring well, almost eight times the allowable limit.
The notice of violation allegations “paint a discouraging picture, a picture in which it appears Basecamp is being cavalier about public health and environmental quality,” Teton County Commission chair Luther Propst said. “I hope that their disregard of these basic requirements does not extend to their electrical and fire safety.”
Propst would rather have more than hope. “We have no evidence that they’re taking fire safety and electrical safety seriously,” he said, calling for more action.
“Rather than requiring Basecamp to haul waste in a truck to be treated, I hope DEQ will consider shutting them down until the public can have assurances they are not violating public safety.”
DEQ, however, doesn’t have that authority, Propst said. The State Board of Land Commissioners or its Office of State Lands and Investments would have to make that call. The land board and its commissioners are, however, defending their 2022 Basecamp permit in two suits before the Wyoming Supreme Court and a separate challenge before the Environmental Quality Council.
State sues county
The Board of Land Commissioners sued Teton County to block Teton County’s electrical and fire inspections at Tammah. Wyoming prevailed in district court and Teton County appealed to the Wyoming Supreme Court, seeking a declaration that state developments are subject to local land use regulations.
Several groups joined as friends of Teton County: the Jackson Hole group Citizens for Responsible Use of State Lands, Casper Mountain Preservation Alliance, Wyoming Outdoor Council, Powder River Basin Resource Council and Wyoming County Commissioners Association.
Citizens for Responsible Use of State Lands is also appealing a lower court ruling and asks the Supreme Court to declare that it can intervene formally — not just file amicus briefs — in the tiff between the state and Teton County.
Protect our Water is appealing the state DEQ’s permit for Tammah to construct its sewage system. It said in filings that the sand mound leach field failed to meet the necessary setback requirements from surface water, among other things.
The State Board of Land Commissioners authorized the Tammah development and a separate storage site after the Legislature sought to tap Teton County riches, calling for maximum returns from Wyoming property in a community where land values are stratospheric. Land commissioners authorized the developments under temporary use permits that critics say are inappropriate and skirt safeguards.
The company says the name Tammah comes from the Ute word for “we.”
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