Homeowners want wells to be tested

The trustees said more than 14 homes have bad wells.
By VIRGINIA ROSS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NORTH LIMA -- Beaver Township Trustee Larry Wehr said more than a dozen township homeowners have indicated they would like to have their wells tested by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
Wehr, at a monthly township meeting Tuesday, said the names of those residents are being forwarded to ODNR, and he expects the water to be tested within the next several weeks.
"I visited 14 residences on East South Range Road and they all want their wells tested," Wehr said. "And I'm sure there are more. The ones I spoke with said their wells are bad, but now we just need to determine whether they're bad because they've been impacted by mining in that area."
For the past several months, residents from the East South Range Road area of the township have attended trustee meetings asking that something be done about bad water in their neighborhood. The trustees said they would meet and work with ODNR representatives to see how the problem could be rectified.
ODNR representatives have said they intend to collect water samples from residences to determine how far-reaching the situation is.
ODNR requirement
Township officials have said they know several homes need new water, but they need to determine what replacement program will work. To qualify for assistance with a water replacement program through ODNR, it must be determined the well has been affected by mining.
In the past few years ODNR has dug a few new wells in the area, but that water also went bad. Officials are now looking into extending the waterlines of Aqua Ohio, a local private water company, to the affected areas of the township. Wehr works for Aqua Ohio.
In other news, trustees accepted the resignation of Evangeline McDade as a township parks cleaning person and hired Howard Reese as a parks cleaning/maintenance person. Reese's wage was set at $8 an hour.