Wick on EPA threat: ‘All commissioners need to get in the fight’

0

Editor,

Nov. 9, 2019, marked 10 years that raw sewage has overflowed into Preble County ditches and streams from the trailer park located at 32 Quaker Trace Road.

From the research I’ve conducted, the Preble County Commissioners,the Preble County Health Department, and the Preble County Prosecutor’s office had done absolutely nothing to stop the pollution.

I spoke with Mo Nusbaum who’s an attorney for the Manufactured Home Program. This agency gives licenses and permits for mobile home parks to operate. She stated that any and all sewage pollution outside that boundaries of the trailer park is the responsibility of the local health officials i.e., the Preble County Health Department. The Ohio EPA has the same message. All jurisdiction and responsibilities fall upon the Preble County Health Department.

I spoke with State Representative Todd Smith and his office last week and ask them to try and find out who has the authority to fire people in the Health Department. In addition, I asked Todd Smith if he would consider creating legislation to bring local health departments and health officials under the authority of elected representatives in the county.

Mr. Ware from the Ohio EPA told me they have no authority to shutdown the trailer park on Quaker Trace Road, yet the same Ohio EPA is threatening the commissioners with a $16 million fine if they refuse to build a sewer system for the Glenwood area.

Certain commissioners are scared to death of the Ohio EPA. Really. If the Ohio EPA hasn’t the authority to shut a trailer park down that’s polluting our ditches and streams, by what and who’s authority are they going to collect a $16 million fine?

Commissioner Robertson has stated she’s not going to sign a blank sheet of paper that will enslave hundreds of homeowners with thousands and thousands of dollars for a sewer system we don’t need. What we need is all the commissioners to get in the fight. What we need is all the commissioners to bring pressure on the prosecutor’s office to force the Preble County Health Department to do its job.

Jerry Wick

West Alexandria

No posts to display