LEETONIA Sewage project gets EPA approval

All but $33,000 for the nearly $1 million project came from grants.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LEETONIA -- Village officials say the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is happy with the nearly $1 million in improvements at the sewage plant.
They hope residents will be happy, too.
An open house at the water and sewer plants for the press, village officials and employees will be at 11 a.m. Saturday. Gary Phillips, village administrator, said a public tour will be set in a few weeks.
Nearly $1 million in improvements, including construction of a filtering and ultraviolet system, were paid with grants, Phillips said.
Grant funding: The village received a $473,850 Community Development Block Grant and a $449,850 Ohio Public Works grant for the improvements, paying $33,000 from village coffers, he said.
Butch Donnalley, utilities superintendent, said a major upgrade of the sewage plant after OEPA mandates in 1990 resulted in a huge increase in sewer rates because no grants were available.
Customers bore the brunt of the cost then with monthly sewer rates rising from $8 to $37, he said.
The current improvements also were mandated by the OEPA. Donnalley said quality and clarity of the treated sewage, which ultimately is emptied into the Middle Fork of the Little Beaver Creek, has improved greatly since the new systems began operating in mid-March.
Excellent results: Routine tests of treated sewage show bacteria and other microscopic nasties OEPA is concerned about are at undetectable levels, and treated sewage in a holding tank just before it empties into the creek is crystal clear.
"That tank is eight feet deep, and you can drop a dime in there and watch it go clear to the bottom," he said.
Donnalley said he discovered a few minor problems after the new system began running, but contractors corrected them quickly.
"The EPA was out here about a week after we started running and they were happy with the system," he said. "We're happy when they're happy."
Ultraviolet light kills bacteria in a safer and more effective method than chlorination, Donnalley said. If chlorine is used to kill bacteria, then OEPA requires a sodium-based chemical be used to remove the chlorine before the treated sewage empties into a stream.