EPA directive targets unsewered areas

The requirement may slow the process of developing land.
WARREN -- The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency wants to hear from Trumbull County every time a large lot in an unsewered area is divided for development.
Frank Migliozzi, Trumbull County Health Department director of environmental health, told the county planning commission Tuesday about the Ohio EPA's directive for the county's unsewered areas.
A state EPA lawsuit to pressure Trumbull County to bring sewers to the "areas of concern" has not been resolved.
Until it is, the state could take the county to court if the county doesn't restrict the discharge of waste off a lot, onto land or into the water.
This situation can occur if homes are built on lots that are too small for effective septic systems. Since 2002, the county has abolished off-lot septic systems.
Slowing down
Surveyors and developers will be affected by the requirement that the county notify the state. It also could slow the building process as soils are tested and other factors are scrutinized, Migliozzi said.
"It takes too long now. It's going to stymie growth even more," said county Commissioner Daniel Polivka, whose family runs a development company.
The health department already requires residents in 24 areas, where failing septic systems are a problem, to make stop-gap repairs until sewers can be installed. These could include requiring residents to install chlorinators or other devices that cost hundreds of dollars, or to get their septic tanks pumped.
The steps already taken by the county do not satisfy the EPA's demand for putting in sewers, but will reduce the risk to public health.
Agreement extension
In other planning commission business, Girard has been given another extension by the U.S. EPA to reach an agreement with the Ohio Leatherworks partnership. A yearlong deadline had come and gone May 1 for using a federal brownfield assessment grant.
"The U.S. EPA has once again allowed them an unknown period of time to work this out with Leatherworks," said Trish Nuskievicz, planner and environmental specialist. "We're just going to have to wait for the U.S. EPA to get it settled in Girard."
At stake is $180,000 received for testing the former Ohio Leatherworks property on U.S. Route 422 for environmental hazards. The city got the grant four years ago, has had past extensions, but can't reach a settlement with the owners for gaining ownership of the 27 acres. The tannery ceased operations in 1971.
If Girard doesn't use the money, it will go to another brownfield project, with Ohio Star Forge in Champion being first in line, planners said. The county and Ohio Star have been working together for several months.
Right now the company operates on two acres at the rear of the shuttered CSC Ltd. property but plans to expand. It's possible that 50 acres out of the 370-acre former Copperweld Steel site could be purchased and cleaned up. The planning commission staff has already prepared requests to the U.S. EPA for $350,000 to $700,000 in "brownfield assessment funding" there.
Commissioners Polivka and James Tsagaris suggested some of the brownfield money could be used at the closed county nursing home in Brookfield, which is for sale, to determine if there are any environmental issues there.