Nearly 30 low-income residents of a trailer park in Gusher may be forced to move this week if the Tri-County Health Department follows through on an order to shut it down over violations involving a septic-tank system.

Ted Berg, co-owner of Country Village on Highway 40, said he feels he is being unfairly targeted by the state health department and other authorities that want to shut down the trailer park despite his efforts to improve the septic-tank system and address various concerns about his property and operations over the last few years.

“They keep changing the rules for us,” said Berg. “I'm tired of fighting them.”

Berg, of Neola, and his girlfriend, Lee Kettleson, manage the park and say they are worried that many of the low-income residents have nowhere to go, given the current cost of area rental properties. Rental rates remain high in Uintah and Duchesne counties despite the recession, the recent downturn in the oil industry and local job losses.

Kettleson said the park, opened in 1973, serves a community purpose by giving people with little or no money a place to live. The monthly fees for RVs and trailers at Country Village range from $220 to $275.

“We've got low-income people, no-income people and the elderly,” she said. “Where are they going to go?”

Tri-County Health officials could not be reached for comment Monday. But a document mailed to Berg in late September states that a closure notice from Feb. 19 “is still in effect” and that high levels of groundwater on the site present a hazard. The notice gives the Bergs until Saturday, Oct. 17, to make sure all tenants are vacated.

The document cites a rule that says groundwater levels on the property must be no higher than 60 inches below ground level. Tri-County health inspectors measure groundwater levels at two different points at the trailer park.

The fear is that high groundwater levels will seep into the septic tank and fill it, rendering it incapable of safely holding the waste inside and causing plumbing systems to back up. On July 30, an inspector measured the two points at 43 inches and 32 inches, well above the 60-inch mark.

Berg said the higher water levels during summer had no affect on the park's septic and plumbing systems. He said the inspectors shouldn't take readings during summer because a farmer irrigates the cornfield next to the trailer park, creating higher-than-normal groundwater levels.

He has flushed and replaced the “leech lines” running from the septic tank to the outskirts of the park and everything is working properly, he said. Last week, he lowered a board into one of the inspection points, and the mark showed the groundwater level was below the 60-inch maximum.

Because of the issue, and perhaps others he said he has already addressed, his application to renew Country Village's business license has been denied, he said.

“For whatever reason, they just don't want us here,” said Berg.

Berg said he has blown his savings on repairs in an attempt to address problems outlined by the health department and other entities. He said he can't afford to do one of the things they asked – to tie into the tribe's existing sewer line – because the link is a mile away and the project would cost nearly $200,000.

He admitted the park is unattractive, with tall weeds, dirt driveways and rusty cars marking the site, but added that the scene is not unlike most residential areas in that section of western Uintah County.