County has 30 days to respond to OEPA orders on sewer
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has given Washington County Commissioners until March 23 to respond to final orders to sewer Devola.
If the commissioners refuse to comply with the orders, the OEPA said the case will be referred to the Ohio Attorney General’s office for prosecution. If that were to occur the county could potentially be fined and still forced to sewer Devola.
In 2012 the OEPA had ordered that Devola homes be sewered because of high levels of nitrates found in the groundwater in that area of Washington County due to failing septic systems.
At the time, the county commissioners were already under a 40-year contract, signed May 12, 2011, to be a part of the expansion of Marietta’s wastewater treatment plant and to connect Devola and Oak Grove to the city’s sewer system.
The orders in 2012 were based on a study performed in 2010 of Devola’s groundwater by the OEPA. In the past two years, county commissioners have disputed the validity of that study and asked the OEPA if the high nitrate levels could be caused in part by agricultural run-off.
OEPA returned throughout the summer of 2016 to test the groundwater tables again and have found that the main source of nitrate contamination is failing septic systems throughout Devola.
The modified orders were provided to commissioners in a meeting in Columbus last week after the agency’s director, Craig Butler, chose to cancel a public meeting in Marietta scheduled for this week.
“We had made arrangements to have a public meeting to explain to Devola citizens our findings but after Marietta Police Department leadership said that there was a significant active threat to my staff, I chose not to put my staff’s safety in jeopardy,” Butler said Monday.
Marietta Police Capt. Aaron Nedeff said the EPA had informed the department that they had received threats from local residents but there was never an official report or investigation. He said the police department had never informed the EPA about a threat.
EPA officials had inquired about having police protection at the meeting, Nedeff said, but ultimately canceled instead.
“We would be more than willing to pursue other ways to explain our findings to the public whether that be through a webinar or some other online means,” said Butler.
Instead of the local meeting, Washington County Commission President Ron Feathers said he and his fellow commissioners traveled to Columbus last week and heard the findings of the OEPA’s most recent study.
“We will next meet March 8 with the county health commissioner, county engineer and (Washington County Prosecutor) Kevin Rings and Assistant Prosecutor Nicole Coyle to discuss how we are going to respond to these newest orders,” said Feathers. “We’ve been working with the Buckeye Hills-Hocking Valley Regional Development District to look into grant options as recently as last week because we know that we’ll have to eventually sewer Devola. But I don’t see how we are to finance it in such a shortly-phased window that they have given us.”
The new orders outline that over the next three years all homes in Devola need to be tied in to a sewered system. Oak Grove is not included in the orders.
As far as the county dispute with the city in terms of the contract, the OEPA has no part in those orders, said Butler. The city has also threatened to sue the county if the properties are not sewered.
“Our role in that contract is nonexistent,” said Butler. “Would it be the most efficient way to follow our order? Yes. But my only argument is with Devola and they need to sewer. If they do not follow these orders, we will refer the case to the Ohio Attorney General for prosecution.”
Feathers said the next steps for the county in the coming weeks are to define the county response to the final orders by the OEPA, then to define the scope of the project and attain cost estimates. After a full cost estimate is attained, of which the projected cost to the county is $6 million to $8 million, he said funding will be sought through state and federal monies and a law firm will be retained to manage the project.
“We just hope that we’re given a more reasonable timeline than three years. If we could do this over 15 years and have the time to study the benefit of each tie-in over that time, then we could see the cost-benefit to the county,” said Feathers.
Matt Dooley, the city’s legal representation in the dispute between the city and county on the county’s non-compliance with the 40-year contract, said the commissioners will also receive a letter this week outlining the lost revenues the city will hold the county responsible for if the county continues to refuse to sewer Devola and Oak Grove as agreed in the contract.
“This was a long-term contract so if you add the loss in capital and revenue costs from when Devola in two parts and Oak Grove in two parts were to have already been sewered, the financial impact to the city is significant,” said Dooley.
Dooley said exact losses will be released next week after the commissioners receive his letter, but that the loss is more than $3 million.
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At a glance
¯ The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has ordered Washington County Commissioners to sewer Devola.
¯ The commissioners have until March 23 to respond to those orders.
¯ If the commissioners refuse to begin sewering Devola within a year of March 23, the case will be referred by OEPA to the Ohio Attorney General’s office for prosecution against the county.
¯ Washington County Commissioners will meet with the county health commissioner, county engineer and county legal representation to construct a response to the orders.
¯ Washington County Commissioners will receive an itemized cost analysis from Marietta’s legal representation this week outlining the financial impact of the commissioners’ refusal to sewer Devola and Oak Grove per the 40-year contract with the city.
Source: Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Washington County Commissioners, Marietta’s attorney Matt Dooley.