Leaking sewage treatment plants in Hoback Junction are polluting drinking water.
That's according to the results of a study released last month by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality.
“Based on the results of the data review, it appears that the main known source of nitrates in groundwater is related to the density of domestic wastewater treatment plants in the region,” the report said.
According to Carlin Girard, executive director of the Teton Conservation Alliance, this is the first report from outside experts showing that nitrate pollution in Hoback could be addressed by addressing wastewater.
The results are not surprising to Girard. But, he said, “the report helps a lot.”
“For years, the nitrate source in Hoback has been questioned very consistently by experts and engineers,” he said.
Phil Powers, executive director of Protect Our Water Jackson Hole, also anticipated the results.
“It just gives us confidence that the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality can enforce and get to the bottom of these issues,” Powers said. Complaints filed in 2020 by Protect Our Water and the Wyoming Outdoor Council led to a state investigation.
The Environmental Protection Agency has monitored drinking water in Teton County for more than 30 years and has found nitrate levels above the recommended limit of 10 milligrams per liter elsewhere in the valley. Girard also created a map using samples from private wells and public water systems throughout the county. On the 2021 map, Hoback Junction appears as a bright red hotspot.
Nitrate is a nutrient pollutant, a form of dissolved nitrogen that can come from agriculture or, in Hoback's case, as a byproduct of human waste disposal. High concentrations in surface water can cause algae blooms that endanger wildlife.
High levels of nitrates in drinking water can limit the ability of oxygen to move through the blood. In infants and pregnant women, this can look like fatal methemoglobinemia or “blue baby syndrome.”
With no major agriculture or industry nearby, septic tanks were the only obvious culprit, Girard said. However, this is the first report to confirm the source.
The data could help calm the debate, secure grants and even tighten the county's zoning and building regulations, he said.
While the state investigation highlights “domestic” systems, Girard has a broader interpretation based on his years of collecting water samples day after day: Leaking commercial treatment plants are also to blame.
“Areas with similarly dense development but fewer larger systems have fewer problems,” he said.
While the state's report is new, the measures to address the problem are not.
As awareness of poor water quality throughout the valley has grown over the past four years, Teton County created a water advisory board and hired a water resources coordinator, Chris Peltz. Voters passed a ballot measure in 2022 to raise $10 million in sales taxes over several years to improve and protect water quality.
According to its website, Protect Our Water Jackson Hole funded and distributed over 10,000 gallons of clean drinking water to over 50 households in Hoback Junction from 2022 to 2024.
And in 2023, Hoback residents signed a petition to create the Hoback Water and Sewer District.
Rob Frodeman lives in Hoback Junction and is chairman of the county board.
“This report underlines that this is only the first step of the two-stage process,” Frodeman said.
The first step is to build a system to provide clean water. But it is more important to determine the source of the pollution, said Frodeman.
A larger facility will likely look like a municipal sewer system.
This assessment is in line with the recommendations of the Ministry of Environmental Quality listed at the end of the report.
While much of rural Teton County relies on wastewater systems that account for over 2,000 buildings, the population hub of Jackson pipes wastewater to South Park for treatment. This facility has capacity, but is located four miles uphill from Hoback and stretches along Highway 89 through steep slopes prone to landslides.
That geographic location poses its own problems, Frodeman said, and makes a second option seem more viable: a smaller, closer treatment area, a so-called parcel facility.
Whatever the solution, Frodeman said, it should come “immediately and with deliberate speed.” He added that the drinking water and wastewater treatment systems would cost over $5 million each.
The Hoback Water and Sewer District has already raised $3.5 million for the treatment system, Frodeman said. He expects grants and long-term loans paid back by homeowners to cover the rest.
In the event that a public water system is not an option, the state report now offers other recommendations.
Steps include groundwater sampling to locate nitrate impacts, identifying water supplies with nitrate problems and providing water treatment options to those with contaminated water. As for the water treatment system – step one – Frodeman is optimistic.
“The best guess is we were hoping there would be water flowing in 2027,” he said in December, “and since it’s basically 2025 now, that’s not so bad.”
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