November 2009 - Parks & Recreation - 42

According to Stephanie Marquis, a
spokesperson for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, out of 4,000 licensed pools in that state, a " vast majority
need modifications " to come into compliance with VGBA. " Our goal is to protect the
health and safety of our citizens, " Marquis
says. " We take this responsibility very seriously, but there have been challenges since
the law was passed. "

In Wisconsin, the Department of Commerce needs to approve any construction to
a public facility, including pools. Therefore
in order to comply with VGBA, an aquatics
facility needs to contract with an engineer
or designer to draw up plans for the installation, then submit those plans for review
by the DOC, perform the work, and have
the facility inspected to make sure it has followed the plan and complied with the law.

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November 2009

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This process can be time-consuming and
expensive. Marquis explains that because
of this complicated process, the Department of Health Services will expect pools
to come into compliance with the law, but
right now have no deadline as to when they
will begin enforcing it.
Law of the Land
Some pool and spa operators are counting
on lack of enforcement by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, and cite this
as one reason they haven't complied-no
one is paying attention. " In January, pool
operators were just throwing their hands
up in the air and just not doing anything, "
says Schneider. He says his organization
has been " firing shots across the bow, " but
the CPSC is now starting to take action. He
points to a letter from the agency addressed
to six non-compliant aquatics facilities in
Ohio, asking managers to stop operation
until they comply with VGBA.
" It is terrific that CPSC is enforcing this
important law, " Schneider says. " The ball is in
their court and they are running with it. For
every time we hear about a community getting it together, we also hear about pools who
say they aren't worried about enforcement.
I think this Ohio letter proves otherwise. "
Dunning says his department in Seattle
works very closely with the health department to make sure the compliance updates
are done correctly the first time. " If they inspect your pool and you fail, you basically
have to go back to day one, " he says.
Randy Holveck, a public health sanitarian and lead inspector for the city of Madison, Wisconsin, agrees. He is responsible
for checking compliance, as well as making
sure that pool operators have followed the
guidelines outlined by their engineers. So
far, none of the pools that he has inspected
have failed. " Most [operators and managers] just want more information, and once
we tell them how to proceed, they are fine, "
he says. " Communication is key. "
Schneider says he thinks pool operators
need to do their " due diligence and get in
compliance. Parents we speak to have no
idea what can happen to their children because of these drains, " he says. " They are
mortified that this is even an issue. I have
yet to run into a parent who says, 'I'd rather
have my kid in mortal danger than have the
pool close down for a few days.' "
R

November 2009 - Parks & Recreation

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