(Harmony, MN) — The Minnesota Court of Appeals has ruled that an Amish group is not required to use septic tanks.
The Swartzentruber Amish live in southeastern Minnesota, and filed a lawsuit in 2017 seeking religious exemption that would make use of septic tanks not mandatory for the group. The Swartzentruber Amish instead use basins filled with mulch to filter “gray water, which comes from bathing, laundry, and dish water, but not from toilets. However, government officials raised concerns that these basins would not be effective enough.
Despite the concerns, the appeals court ruled that the government “failed to demonstrate a compelling state interest” to force the group to use septic tanks for gray water.
