February 25, 1999
Watershed coalition trying to pinpoint pollution
By Carol Bogart
Staff Writer
The Sandusky River Watershed Coalition is putting together an inventory of potential sources of non-point pollution in Wood, Sandusky, Ottawa and Seneca counties.
Tiffin's old municipal landfill on CR 90 will likely be on that list, according to the director of WSOS's Rural Community Assistance Program, Julie Ward.
Ward said the program is in the process of prioritizing such sites and hopes to have a full-time watershed coordinator by next year. The coordinator, she said, will help the Coalition round up funding sources for any needed cleanup.
The old landfill has been documented as spilling leachate -- water that has come in contact with solid waste -- into the Sandusky River. Also, an old well on the property may have allowed leachate to contaminate underlying aquifers.
Ward said that while it's possible to clean up an aquifer, it is cost prohibitive. In such instances, she said, some communities relying on groundwater wells have been forced to shut down the wells and put in a water distribution system.
Republic, for example, has agreed to participate in the proposed Rural Water Consortium through North Central Electric. The proposal still is in the discussion phase.
According to Republic Mayor Del Ray Fox, whether it becomes reality depends on ''if there's enough support to do a study to evaluate rural areas and communities for possible inclusion in the consortium.
''The consortium's purpose would be supplying such communities and areas with water purchased elsewhere,'' Fox said. ''The key factor is determining if the consortium is feasible in terms of both cost ... and willingness of townships and communities to explore their options.''
For people using wells, Ward says, the answer may be trying to find an unpolluted aquifer or installing a cistern and having water hauled in. In much the same way some rural residents have regular deliveries of propane gas to heat their homes, Ward said, residents unable to use their wells arrange for delivery of uncontaminated water. Ward said she uses a cistern at her home in Sandusky County. Monthly cost: $43 for 3,000 gallons.
As for cleaning up the landfill, Ward said she believes leachate from a landfill ''may be eligible for non-point pollution cleanup.''
WSOS is trying to obtain state or federal funding to add to local money for such cleanups. Ward says the goal is cost sharing.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Surface Water Division has funds available. As part of the Community Assistance Program's mission of ''helping small communities deal with water and wastewater,'' WSOS is bringing in Ohio EPA's head of the Drinking and Ground Water Division, Mike Baker, to speak to the Sandusky River Watershed Coalition tonight at 7:30 at Heidelberg College. The meeting is to be in the Frost lecture hall, Barris Hall Room 101.
Of Tiffin's Landfill, Ward said, ''We'll need to put that on the inventory list.''
Tonight's meeting is open to the public.
For more information, call 419/344-8911 or 800/775-9767.