CENTRE — The head of the Alabama Department of Public Health said he intends to “plant a flag” in Cherokee County as a show of his department's commitment to clean up Weiss Lake.

“We are looking for the opportunity to begin this process in order to demonstrate that we are serious about this,” State Health Officer Dr. Don Williamson told The Post in an exclusive interview last week.

Williamson was in Centre in January to urge the Cherokee County Commission to use its local governance powers to create an ordinance that will declare illegal sewage dumping a public nuisance.

Williamson told the commissioners a sewage control ordinance, which is still in the planning stages, should create an enforcement officer position and establish fines for failure to comply.

“If the County Commission doesn't pass regulations the only thing we can do is begin enforcing the process with the tool we have,” Williamson said in January. “That is arrest warrants and going to court … on a one-on-one basis.”

Williamson confirmed there is already an initial draft of a variance from the state Board of Health which would temporarily allow sewage holding tanks inside the flood easement. Still, Williamson stressed that the most important step in cleaning up the reservoir remains in the hands of the County Commission.

“That ordinance, if it is passed, will create the vehicle upon which the variance by the state Board of Health can be enforced,” Williamson said.

In January, Williamson explained that under Alabama law, stand-alone sewage holding tanks are not allowed on recreation lots.

But he said the Board of Health is so concerned about sewage getting into Weiss that he expects approval for the variance allowing holding tanks during a meeting set to be held in Centre in April.

In the past, Williamson has said he believes hauling individuals into the court system is not the best way to handle the decades-old sewage problem in Weiss. But when he spoke to The Post he sounded open to considering any option that would get the cleanup process underway.

“We are looking at moving forward with enforcement cases simply in order to be doing something about the problem,” he said. “This is one of those situations where it has become easy for everyone to throw up their hands, but we are going to deal with the overall situation.”

He then repeated: “We're going to put our flag in the ground.”

As The Post reported last week, Alabama Power has received criticism in the five decades since Weiss Lake was built for failing to monitor construction inside its flood easement around the lake.

Critics maintain that the largely unchecked spread of unapproved structures through the years led to a situation where land owners have built whatever they wanted on lakefront lots with little subsequent regard for where the resulting sewage could end up.

But since 2006, when Alabama Power opened a shoreline management office in Centre, the company said it has reported to the Cherokee County Health Department any observed instances of illegal sewage dumping, according to Regional Coordinator Tommy Miller.

Late last week, Alabama Department of Public Health Area Director Jim Hollins said the Health Department began receiving photos of possible sewage violations a few months ago.

“We have seen photos since September 2010 showing recreational vehicles with unapproved buddy tanks and we have sent those to our legal department for review,” Hollins said.

Hollins said the types of tanks he has seen are not the same type the state Board of Health would allow, assuming it grants the variance sought by Dr. Williamson.

“What we are looking at is concrete, 1000-gallon tanks,” Hollins said.

Williamson has said his department will try to be flexible with anyone using smaller, plastic holding tanks.

“We will try to work with people who are trying to do the right thing,” Williamson said at the January meeting.

Echoing Williamson, Hollins stressed that the ultimate success of any effort to clean up Weiss Lake hinges on the local government making hard choices when a variance eventually comes up for a vote.

“All of this enforcement is still contingent on the County Commission passing an ordinance,” Hollins said. "If we can just get everybody to the table we can make this work."

Probate Judge Melvyn Salter has said he hopes to have an ordinance finalized and ready for the County Commission to vote on within a few weeks.