Wastewater erupting from drainfields serving 33 homes, a church, and a cabin rental office along King Branch Road in Sevier County, Tenn., flowed into a small mountain stream paralleling the road.The state Department of Environment and Conservation banned recreational activities and fishing on the Little Pigeon River below its juncture with the stream after finding extreme levels of fecal bacteria in the water. The river is a tourist attraction.The county Environmental Health Department and Southeast Environmental Engineering in Knoxville explored decentralized solutions. "Funding and permitting were the greatest challenges," says designer Michael Hines, P.E., and the company's founding principal. "At
