MOUNT VERNON — Two more neighbors voiced their concerns at the Aug. 22 city council meeting about the dumping of lime sludge at the water treatment plant on Old Delaware Road.
The city removed the sludge from the west lagoon located at Ohio 229 and Harcourt Road and hauled it to a field west of the water treatment plant at 1700 Old Delaware Road. Justin Meier’s and Jennifer Grubaugh’s properties abut the field, as does the property of Lyle David Daniels.
All three Clinton Township residents said they were never contacted by city officials about the sludge being stored on the field behind their homes.
“I have the courtesy to let my neighbors know if I am going to be doing something that might affect them,” Grubaugh said. “Why does the city feel like they do not need to show the same courtesy to be a good neighbor?
“That shows a lack of transparency and respect.”
A heavy rain on July 21 turned the sludge to slurry which ran onto Daniels’ and Meier’s properties. On July 25, Daniels asked the city to stop hauling the sludge, citing various concerns. At last week’s council meeting, Grubaugh and Meier’s concerns mirrored those of Daniels and included the following:
• Lack of proper permits to haul and store the sludge.
• Effects of the sludge on their water source.
• Metals in the sludge.
Additionally, Grubaugh said that during a visit to Grubaugh’s home, her mother started to experience breathing issues and had to take two breathing treatments on the drive back to her Newark home.
“She continued to feel ill for days after that visit,” Grubaugh said. “She has not been back to my home since that incident and has not experienced anything like that since.”
In addition to the above concerns, Meier referenced the discovery that Daniels’ shed is partially on city property.
“As a resident, this feels like an attempt to retaliate at Mr. Daniels, that had he not brought any of this up, it never would have been an issue about his barn,” Meier said.
Lack of proper permits
On April 21, the consulting firm Hazen and Sawyer filed a Notice of Intent on behalf of the city to use the sludge — officially referred to as drinking water treatment material — as a liming material. The NOI did not include any location(s) where the waste material would be stored, blended, or used as land application.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) granted coverage under its general permit on June 1. The city started removing the sludge in June, transporting it to the field on the west side of the water treatment plant.
According to Anthony Chenault, media coordinator with OEPA, there are no specific conditions regarding transportation of the material from the point of origin to the storage location under the beneficial use permit.
In conversations with various OEPA officials, Daniels was told the city was not in compliance with the sludge being hauled to the water treatment plant for temporary storage.
An OEPA visit on July 27 noted there were no sediment or erosion controls other than a bag over a catch basin. Visit notes also document the apparent need for a stormwater construction site permit for earth disturbance.
Rahel Babb of the OEPA Division of Surface Water notified the city on July 29 to immediately implement stormwater best management practices. She also told the city to provide a timeline for implementation and photographs documenting implementation.
The city applied for the stormwater construction permit and received it on Aug. 9.
Two emails — one Aug. 16, the other Aug. 26 — directed to Mark Johnson, assistant director of the OEPA, were forwarded to the OEPA media relations department. The Aug. 16 response stated the temporary storage was not covered under the beneficial use permit; the Aug. 26 response noted that the city previously was not in compliance, but “has since applied for a permit, and now is in compliance.”
However, Mayor Matt Starr and Public Utilities Director Tom Marshall both say Johnson told the city it was in compliance throughout the entire process. Marshall estimates they each had about six conversations with Johnson.
“There were mixed messages from the OEPA until Deputy Mark Johnson got involved,” Marshall told Knox Pages via email on Aug. 26. “Mark has told the city repeatedly that we are in full compliance with respect to OEPA regulations.
Marshall said that Johnson “wondered whether we even needed the stormwater permit.”
“However, the city wanted to go the extra mile and also cover any future activity at the site, so the construction permit application was prepared and approved by the OEPA,” Marshall said.
Water source
The city has two wells: one in Riverside Park, the other across the river from the park. Citing the city’s 2012 Source Water Assessment and Protection Plan (SWAP), Daniels said the city’s water source has a high susceptibility to man-made contamination due to several factors.
A drinking water source has an inner management zone, which is the area that provides ground water to city wells within one year of pumping. The sludge field is located within that zone.
“There’s a lot less distance between that (sludge) field and my well than there is between that field and the city’s wells,” he told Knox Pages on Aug. 18. “Within 700 feet or so is this solid waste with heavy metals.
“It’s concerning to me. It’s very worrisome.”
Meier echoed his concern.
“Mr. Marshall did not inform my family and I of what the lime sludge is or what the long-term effects could be on our property or for our water,” he told council. “…Though we have individual wells, that water to our wells comes from a shared protected watershed. It is the long-term effects of that at the concentration level that I wish I would have been informed of.”
“Why would the city want to dump waste where they pull the city’s water supply from?” Grubaugh asked. “That does not seem logical, yet that is what is happening.”
Heavy metals
Following the July 21 spillover, the city had an independent consultant test soil samples from what was thought to be Daniels’ property. According to a re-survey of the property line, the samples were actually taken from city property.
According to test results, there were “no negative consequences” to the spill.
Daniels noted that no negative impact agronomically does not rule out the possibility of it affecting an individual’s health or the environment.
“Why would I want more arsenic, or barium, or whatever?” he asked. “I don’t want to grow soybeans in my yard. So of course, I don’t want that stuff here.”
“How will we know the consequences six months from now, when the permit expires?” Meier asked council.
Moving forward
Meier and Grubaugh both asked the city the plans for the sludge site and farmers’ use of the sludge. Meier also asks for three additional things:
• A resolution noting a plan of action.
• Have an agreed-upon testing company conduct water testing every two to three months with a copy of the results going to the residents.
• To be kept in the loop and informed and educated throughout the process.
As of Aug. 24, seven farming operations received the sludge for land application. All have completed the required Beneficial Site Use Verification form.
“The city intends to have farmers take material from that site as quickly as possible for beneficial reuse,” Marshall said in his email. “As the site is cleared, it will be regraded and seeded.
“The city has various plans for this site, including the future construction of a salt barn for the street department.”
Starr told Knox Pages that at Johnson’s suggestion, the city filed a Compliance Plan with the OEPA last Thursday.
“It was his idea, but we agreed it was a good thing to do,” Starr said. “We both expect this measure to clear up any previous misunderstanding on either of our staffs.”
The plan, which includes reaching out to farmers and stormwater monitoring, will be on the city’s website after the OEPA approves it.
