TRUMBULL COUNTY Deal would help Kinsman's sewer woes

Kraft may give the county money to take the septic plant off its hands.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
KINSMAN -- A shuttered dairy products factory could provide the solution to sewage problems that cause a bad smell in the township center and a headache for the Ohio EPA.
Within a few months, Sanitary Engineer Gary Newbrough said he hopes to finalize a deal for the county to take over a septic treatment plant for the Kraft factory on Burnett-East Road.
The septic plant is easily big enough to handle waste from all the homes in Kinsman center and Farmdale, Newbrough said.
"I think that it will be good for business as well as the homeowners in the area," said Dr. James Enyeart, county health commissioner.
Acquiring the Kraft septic plant would dramatically reduce the cost of bringing sewers to Kinsman, which is far from county-owned sewer lines.
About the deal
Under the deal being discussed, Kraft will probably give the county some cash along with the keys to the $4 million to $5 million facility, Newbrough said. In return, Trumbull County would assume liability for potential pollutants left at the plant -- primarily milk byproducts.
The factory turned milk into yogurt, cottage cheese and other products, employing about 60 people until ceasing operations earlier this year.
The plant is so big it could also accept waste from companies that pump septic tanks for a fee. Revenue from septic haulers could be used to subsidize the cost of operating the plant, Newbrough said.
Putting pipes in the ground to deliver the waste from homes to the treatment plant would cost about $5 million, Newbrough said. Grants may reduce the cost to about $2 million, which would be charged to system users on utility bills, he said.
There are about 2,000 residents in Kinsman.
The center of Kinsman is one of about two dozen county places dubbed "unsewered areas of concern" by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. In Kinsman, as in the other areas, roadside ditches areas are choked with human waste discharged from failing home septic systems.
Township Trustee William Miller said he was supportive of the plan.
"You would hear this from anyone in the township," he said. "We need sewers bad."