OEPA officials visit Lowell, celebrate partnership
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LOWELL -- Lowell officials and residents celebrated a brighter future for their water system Thursday on Buell Island with a gathering of local officials and six representatives from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency in Columbus.
Kevin Ritter, president of the Washington County Board of Commissioners, was among those the gathering.
"The board of commissioners appreciates the partnership we've been able to forge with the new OEPA leadership," Ritter said. "They have been proactive in dealing with long-standing water quality issues in the Village of Lowell."
County Commissioner James Booth also commended the OEPA on its actions. Booth, who lives in Lowell, shared his personal knowledge of a cancer victim who had not been able to drink the village's water or use it for bathing.
"There was a comparatively quick response when we told the EPA about this," he said.
Anne M. Vogel, who has headed the Ohio EPA since the first of this year, was on her second trip to the area Thursday with the visit to Lowell and a trip to Little Hocking with others from her staff. Attending with her were: Assistant OSPA Director Mark Johnson; Amy Keli, director of the Division of Drinking and Ground Waters; Chief of Staff Shelby Croft; Chief of the Southeast District Office Harry Kallipolitis; and Deputy Director of Strategic Partnerships Andrew Smith.
Vogel was first introduced to the area in early February by Gov. Mike DeWine in a joint appearance at the Marietta Chamber of Commerce concerning the state's H2Ohio initiative.
Lowell's water has improved to "no detectable results" in the iron and manganese tests. Funds totaling $200,000 from the Ohio EPA have allowed the village to install a filtration system as a temporary solution while other significant help from OEPA is in the near future.
The village will award a contract on May 24 for a new water plant and two new wells, according to Jarrod Merrow of the Board of Public Affairs. The village has selected a bidder, but all the information on bids has been sent to the OEPA for the final steps of the process, Merrow said.