Three comments to that essay should be addressed for clarification:
Rhonda4thWard wrote:
"I made some calls and found that the EPA and the City are heavily involved in the Owens landfill, they have a complete containment system there, all the leachate (I am not sure I spelled that right) is captured and pumped directly to the the collection system and to the WWTP. There is also a containment pond to catch rainwater...they have spent millions to maintain this and Ohio EPA inspects it on the regular basis. the last time OEPA did a study on the macro-invertabrates in the Licking River at that location they found no impact. This system has been in place for at least 24 years."
Rhonda4thWard, your research is appreciated, but not something I haven't done many times over the years. When you call EPA you get the official line, which always says things are fine with Owens pollution. No doubt it's EPA-approved, but you can't look at that photo and not know some run-off from Dump Hill isn't heading for the river. Nor can you believe those bits of Fiberglas blowing off Dump Hill on windy days and onto the grass below are being contained. Nor can you drive on Manning Street where Dump Hill trucks labor constantly, dropping stuff along the way, and not know some is heading for the river. You can't remember the little house across the street from Dump Hill - here one day, gone the next - replaced by a ground-water test hole and believe Dump Hill pollution not responsible. Nor can you be downwind from the factory and not smell air pollution. That's why I don't care what the official EPA/Owens line is.
You also asked why I don't tell the EPA about Owens pollution. My answer is I've been telling EPA about this on a career-long basis - news coverage, pictures, features, columns, all of it. I've done my part, friend, without making so much as a dent in any of it because I am virtually alone in challenging the corporation and the government on the truth of their claims.
Madclaw wrote:
"A high-rate treatment plant has nothing to do with issues from Owens and everything to do with the waste that follows from ever resident of Newark, raw sewage. Newark's waste water treatment plants (WWTP) are reaching the extents of their capacity and expected life span (est. thirty years). Newark and the surrounding serviced areas has also grown beyond the expect capacity of when the WWTP were designed. Add in that there are also combined sewers that feed into the system that push rain water through the WWTP, which again compromises the capacity and effectiveness the WWTP.
Ultimately a new plant will help with little things like sewage back-ups. I would wager that no one wants to find six inches of raw sewage in their basement, but no one worries about it until it happens. If the city waits until it becomes a problem, it is too late. We do not what to end up in the mess that Columbus’ west side was about ten years ago. Every time it rained sewage backed up and boil alters were issued. They did not plan for the growth and had heavy EPA fines and engineering bills to pay. Now the City of Columbus is trying to stay a head of problems like that and still struggles with issues. We do not want to get behind the ball on this. It will be cheaper to do it right now, instead twice the cost to fix it in the future."
Thanks for your comment, madclaw. I don't argue with any of that, except maybe your inference that Columbus problems relate to ours, and the assumption of "twice the cost, etc." But you miss my point. EPA is virtually unsupervised by taxpayers, and so is the city utilities department 1) because it covers expenses by setting rates and nobody argues, probably 2) because this is highly technical stuff and nobody except the utilities employees - least of all me - understands how it works.
I never meant any of this to be a criticism of Roger Loomis, who seems to be running a tight ship and having the knowledge and skill to do it correctly.
ohiovonda wrote:
"This is a personal topic to me. I always said Iwould never live near the plant or landfill. Well, I have lived to eat those words. The landfill is literally in my backyard almost. Coi9ncidentally, one of the engineers responsible for designing the landfill is now my daughter's father-in-law. When he visited my home recently for a familt gathering, he still was reassuring of the safety of the ground water system, etc. I am still nervous. I have a very lovely home, that was originally built by an accou ntant that worked for OC as well. I would literally likie to see current EPA stats. On air and water. Call me Nervous Nellie, but just show me the numbers."
To ohiovonda, I don't envy your position. If I were you, I'd learn everything there is to know about what's in Dump Hill that can harm you, and have my own water tests run. I always suspected that there was more to the closing of that once-lovely roadside spring on Cedar Run than bacteria, as claimed by the health department (if I remember correctly). I always suspected Dump Hill above all else.
