LEAVITTSBURG Air, ground water tests to seek source of stench

The air monitoring will collect data of inside and outside air for 90 days.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LEAVITTSBURG -- Residents are being asked to volunteer to have their wells and air in and around their homes tested as part of a study by federal, state and local agencies to determine the source of hydrogen sulfide in the area.
Last month, the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry categorized an area of Warren Township a public health hazard and released a report listing recommendations to address the problem. A public health hazard means that some sensitive residents may experience health symptoms.
The review released last month involved air monitoring conducted over the summer within a quarter-mile of Warren Recycling.
Complaints
Residents have been complaining for months about a stench, likened to rotten eggs, wafting through the area. The odor has been linked to hydrogen sulfide.
The agency is working with township trustees, the school district, Warren City and Trumbull County health departments, Mahoning-Trumbull Air Pollution Control Agency, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and Our Lives Count, a citizens group formed because of concerns about hydrogen sulfide gas in the environment.
City and state officials pointed to Warren Recycling, which operates a construction and demolition landfill on Martin Luther King Avenue, as the odor's source, but later reports said the facility was only one possible cause.
The agency became involved when township trustees and LaBrae School District re*quested a review of environmental data for residences near Warren Recycling Inc.
Construction and demolition debris landfills can produce hydrogen sulfide gas through the breakdown of waste materials, ATSDR officials said.
Michelle A. Colledge, an environmental health scientist with ATSDR, said air monitors will be installed in homes of people who volunteer. The devices will monitor air inside the home as well as outside for 90 days.
Previous air monitoring paid for by the company was designed to read hydrogen sulfide at higher levels. Lynn Wilder, an ATSDR environmental health scientist, said the monitors that will be used for the latest data collection will detect the gas at even low-exposure levels.
Ground water samples
Bob Frey of the Ohio Department of Health said ground water samples will be taken next month to determine if there's hydrogen sulfide or other gases present at harmful levels. It will take about six weeks to get results back on water samples.
"Some residents were concerned about water quality," Frey said.
Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Warren City Health Department will review a ground water monitoring program proposed by Warren Recycling to determine its compliance with state regulations. The plan involves installation of a monitoring well system at the facility.
OEPA also will identify all major sources of hydrogen sulfide in the area including Warren Recycling, septic systems and gas that naturally occurs in ground water, said Jennifer Kurko of OEPA.
To report problems
Residents also are asked to report odors when they're detected. Warren city residents should call the city health department at (330) 841-2541 to report odors during business hours. During other hours, they should call (330) 394-2521 and press the number 4 to connect to city police dispatch.
Outside city limits, residents should call Lordstown Dispatching Service at (330) 898-5501 between 8 a.m. and midnight, and the information will be relayed to the county health department and Warren Township Fire Department.
Forms also were distributed at a meeting Tuesday to allow residents to log the day, time, place and description of odors. The forms should be sent to OEPA.
The data of odors, health problems, weather conditions and other information will be compiled to determine trends, Kurko said.
Colledge estimated it would take about six months for ATSDR to collect information. The length of time to identify a cause of the odor and recommend a remedy depends on the data collected, Kurko said.
Hydrogen sulfide smells like rotten eggs and can be harmful at levels of high or prolonged exposure in enclosed areas. It also may be harmful at lower levels to people who have asthma.
dick@vindy.com