Oak Harbor mobile home park residents bemoan sewer, water problems

Residents of Valley High Mobile Home Park gathered Oct. 1 in the Oak Harbor Library to voice frustration over what they feel is unsafe drinking water, a failing septic system and lack of help from the property owners.

Tenants called an emergency meeting with Island County Public Health after a News-Times article on Sept. 16 reported on an Island County commissioners’ meeting at which the mobile home park was identified as one of the high-priority properties with code violations, and Commissioner Jill Johnson spoke about the possibility of finding the residents alternative housing.

Many tenants at the meeting said they feared losing their homes and wanted county health officials to intervene. The residents generally own manufactured homes but rent property they sit on inside mobile home parks. They said there has been ongoing problems with water and septic since Dave and Happy Mangat, doing business as Mangat Properties LLC, bought the mobile home park.

“We have the right to clean water, working sewers and good maintenance on our properties,” tenant Theresa Farage said during the meeting. “When you read in the paper that you could lose your home … it’s not fair.”

Happy Mangat spoke to the News-Times after the meeting and said that she’s planning on working with the city of Oak Harbor to annex the park and hook it up to city sewer and water systems, even though she denied that the current systems caused health problems among residents.

“There is nothing wrong with the park,” she said. “We have not done anything wrong.”

Island County Public Health leaders, including Director Shawn Morris, Deputy Director Taylor Lawson and Environmental Health Manager Heather Kortuem, attended the meeting to dispel misinformation and apologize for the way information about the mobile home park was presented at the commissioners’ meeting.

“Our intent really was to provide a status update to our county commissioners,” Morris said. “We always try to work with a landowner to find a solution. We always try to avoid enforcement action.”

Korteum, who said she has been diligently working on the issue for nine years to find a solution, described witnessing “absolutely disgusting, very unhealthy” practices, including effluent being pumped illegally into nearby woods by Dave Mangat.

Officials confirmed that the park currently operates under a provisional license because of septic and water problems.

Residents did not hesitate to voice their concerns, in a mix of Spanish and English, translated by fellow tenant Guadalupe Oxte-Contreras. They reported ongoing health and quality-of-life issues tied to contaminated water. The tenants described water smelling of chlorine or sewage, turning orange and causing rashes, hair loss and infections.

Concepción Contreras distributed photos to officials of the discolored water from their home and pictures of different skin conditions tenants aquired from the bad water they bathe in.

One mother from the audience, who has a child with eczema, said she is desperate to find safe water for her children.

“Soy capaz de ir a pedir ahí en la piscina para que me dejen bañarlos al menos unos tres días por semana para que ellos puedan estar con agua más limpia, ¿Verdad? Hasta ese extremo yo siento que yo sería capaz de llegar para proteger a mis niños,” the woman shared. From Spanish to English, the comment translates to: “It’s gotten to the point where I could go ask the pool if they will let me shower my kids there three times a week. All right? That is the extreme that I would go to protect my kids.”

Several attendees described paying rent while also buying purified water for daily use, an expense that was taking a toll. Audience members said they couldn’t afford to buy filters for their water; even cheap filters would have to be replaced regularly. Others described raw sewage surfacing under homes and a lack of consistent repairs from management.

The discussion grew tense when a tenant, who serves as a precinct committee officer, objected to one community member saying she represented all 56 households previously. He reminded neighbors that only elected representatives can formally speak for the group.

Still, many attendees were defensive, asking if he was their representative, why he didn’t speak up for them about their health issues.

“I didn’t know,” he responded.

The meeting ended with health officials offering to provide copies of a letter that Oak Harbor Mayor Ronnie Wright sent to the park’s owners, outlining seven options for resolving septic seepage into the mobile home park.

Korteum acknowledged tenants’ frustration and said the county may have to escalate enforcement against Mangat.

“I can’t also continue to not enforce on people who are letting their tenants live in sewage and letting water not be of the condition that is drinkable by humans,” she said. “I’m really at a loss, to be quite honest.”

Officials promised to improve notice to tenants about future actions and said more documentation from them, including water samples, photos and written complaints, would strengthen the case for intervention.

According to a News-Times article, Johnson said during the commissioners’ meeting that the city previously gave the property owners options for hooking into the city sewage system, but the owners decided against it due to the cost. Additionally, Johnson said the county offered to find grant funding to help with the cost of sewage hookup since it would serve low-income people, but the owners had a different “vision” in mind.

The tenants, Mangat said, were making “excuses” and speaking “nonsense” when they mentioned health issues that came from the water.

Mangat said the water is in full compliance with state regulations. In an email to the News-Times, she wrote that the owners inspect, maintain and pump septic tanks as needed on a yearly basis. She added that the water system is monitored and operated by NW Natural Water System, which takes water samples and reports results to the state Health Department once a month.

“If we have any problems, we are taking care right away,” she wrote.

While stating their water is in compliance with state regulations, she acknowledged that the septic system is old, and that she and her husband don’t want future issues. Mangat said she wants to protect the mobile home park and its tenants.

“Some people are born there. There’s no way I would lose the park,” Mangat said.

Mangat said they will be meeting with Mayor Wright on Oct. 14 to discuss the seven options from the letter he sent them. She said they will be pushing for the option that will pre-annex them to the city of Oak Harbor to first resolve the sewer and water issues and then deal with further issues that will take more years to accomplish. This option means the city would rezone the property from industrial to residential, according to the letters. It would require negotiation and approval by the Navy about moving the residential boundary past the current limit, it states.

The city council has received this request before and denied the request, the letter notes. The property owner must attend the council meeting in which this would be considered.

“It will cost us quite a bit of money, but we are committed to protect our mobile home park to make it to the city of Oak Harbor standards and codes,” Mangat said in an email.

Mangat claimed they will be sending letters to the tenants of the mobile home park explaining why they are going with that option.