EPA, officials: Target Lakeshore sewage problem

A time line to fix county septic problems is expected next week.
& lt;a href=mailto:siff@vindy.com & gt;By STEPHEN SIFF & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Ending the flow of raw sewage from homes in Bazetta Township's Lakeshore subdivision into Mosquito Lake should be a top priority, officials from the Trumbull County Health Department, Sanitary Engineer's Office and Ohio EPA agree.
But there still has been no determination how the decades-old problem can be permanently fixed, and what should be done in the meantime.
"In light of not doing the right thing, we are really doing nothing," health commissioner Dr. James Enyeart said.
Mosquito Lake is the water source for the city of Warren.
At a meeting Tuesday, officials from the three agencies and the county planning commission continued hashing out how septic problems in 25 county areas -- dubbed "unsewered areas of concern" by the Environmental Protection Agency -- can be addressed.
The EPA is expected to release a time line for how quickly county commissioners are to build sewers to the areas next week.
Same problem
In each area, the problem is the same: Small lots prevent the installation of effective septic systems, and the septic tanks being used discharge raw sewage into roadside ditches.
In at least one other area, the sewage finds its way into a drinking water source. Failing septic systems in Kinsman drain to Pymatuning Lake, said Erm Gomes from the Ohio EPA Northeast District Office.
An engineering firm, Lynn Kittinger & amp; Noble Inc. of Warren, has been hired to investigate the best way to fix sewage problems in Lakeshore, said Thomas Holloway, county sanitary engineer. Likely possibilities all include installation of some sewer lines.
He said he did not know how soon the study would be done.
The health department has developed guidelines for requiring sewage upgrades based on the estimated length of time before sewer lines arrive. The cost to homeowners ranges from a few hundred dollars if the sewers are expected in three years, to $12,500 for a whole new system if it will be more than 10 years before sewers arrive.
In the past, sewer line projects have been prioritized according to the availability of grants to pay for them, Holloway said.
Funding projects
Projects to be funded by assessments to property owners are generally not pursued unless 80 percent of the residents are behind it, he said.
County commissioners have a mechanism to force property owners to pay assessments for a sewer line they don't necessarily want if the area is declared a nuisance by the health department, Gomes said.
Officials couldn't remember this ever being done in Trumbull County, however.
"Unless there is a judge's decision forcing them, our county board of commissioners isn't going to ram a sewer assessment down taxpayers' throats," said assistant prosecutor Jim Brutz, who represents the sanitary engineer.
Commissioners did not return a phone messages left at their office.
The sanitary engineer estimates it would cost more than $50 million to bring sewers to all the EPA's areas of concern.
& lt;a href=mailto:siff@vindy.com & gt;siff@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;