MOSQUITO LAKE Residents rap the lack of aid on sewage

The health commissioner blamed his board for a policy that he says hinders his ability to work on the problem.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
WARREN -- Public officials have failed to show residents of Bazetta's Lakeshore subdivision how to stop their raw sewage from leaking into Mosquito Lake, the president of a homeowners group told the Trumbull County Board of Health.
"Back in 1982, 1983 we were aware we had a problem; we were adamant that we had a problem," said Don Urchek, president of the group, which represents the owners of 59 homes on Lakeshore Drive and Housel-Craft Road.
Temporary solution: Back then, the group went as far as collecting $150 from each homeowner for a fund to clean septic tanks, and got 98 percent of them to sign a petition asking for the government to come up with a permanent solution.
It hasn't happened. Neighbors still pool together to get septic tanks cleaned, a step that was envisioned as a stop-gap measure 20 years ago, and wait for someone to propose a solution to the neighborhood-wide problem.
"No one has told us what to do about it," Urchek said.
Awareness of the problem has blossomed again recently, because of the efforts of the Mosquito Lake Association, a group of boaters and fishermen concerned about water quality in the lake.
"I use Mosquito as a boater, fisherman; we hunt the area," said Cecil Hunt, spokesman for the group. "It is definitely a problem. Something has to be done."
The area is on the Environmental Protection Agency's list of 15 Trumbull County areas with septic problems, Vincent Catuogno, the county health commissioner, told the board.
Lakeshore has to compete with all the others for the county's limited funds for new sewer lines. Bringing sewers to the area would cost $3 million, clearly more than the homeowners could afford themselves, he said.
And though the health department has periodically looked for ways to improve septic systems in the area, Catuogno said their work has been hampered by high staff turnover. Surveys and efforts in 1998 and 2000 were aborted when staff members quit, he said.
As well, Catuogno blamed a rule imposed last year by the board of health that eliminates his and his staff's discretion to write regulations and grant variances. The moratorium requires that any type of variance go before the board.
"I need the flexibility make professional judgments and to make plans with the county to ameliorate the problem," he said.
He said the moratorium, upheld by the health board at subsequent meetings, prevents him from putting into place "new technologies" and "innovative solutions" that could help Lakeshore.
The board went into closed session twice, for a total of about 90 minutes, to discuss Catuogno's job performance.