Grace Liljenquist Appointed to State Advisory Board on Subsurface Sewage Treatment Systems

Grace Liljenquist, a graduate engineer for WSB in Baxter, recently passed the FE, and she’s begun preparing for the March PE exam. She’s doing more than working and studying for the PE exam. She serves on the MnSPE Legislative Committee and is fresh off her first meeting as the non-voting engineer representative on the state’s Advisory Committee on Subsurface Sewage Treatment Systems.

Liljenquist volunteered for – and was appointed to the board; she replaced MnSPE’s Brian Malm, PE.  Before being appointed to the Advisory Board, she was familiar with many of the issues she would face – her family’s business includes designing, installing, and maintaining inspecting subsurface sewage treatment systems. Grace learned about the industry growing up – and she kept learning during the post-high school summers she spent working for her dad. In fact, she is currently pursuing SSTS basic designer and inspector certification through the U of M and MPCA.

Like other unglamorous state-regulated systems, subsurface sewage treatment systems (septic tanks, domes, mounds, etc.) play a vital role in both public health and environmental quality. Much of what those subsurface systems do stays well below ground, except for the occasional dome-shaped area in rural yards or air tubes rising out of the ground near homes and businesses.  But above the surface, it’s a different story. Everything from the cost of lake homes to the siting of a shed on a township lot can be a topic for conversation at the local level and at the board. Ultimately, the Board advises the MPCA on the codes that regulate SSTS across the state.

That’s why the Advisory Board’s members include representatives from state, county, township, and municipal governments, realtors, environmental health experts, engineers, MPCA and more. This range of interests, some of them competing, provides ample opportunity for discussion at board meetings. But Grace plans to take a measured approach when conflicting interests arise.

“If I can’t understand why a group strongly opposes/or supports an action, it’s my job to learn why. My goal is to be able to see all sides of an issue – and to help the groups reach a healthy compromise. I think if all sides go home a little unhappy, we’ve probably found a workable solution.”