Waterline tap-in option anticipated

The state is looking at areas where water wells have gone bad because of mining.
By VIRGINIA ROSS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NORTH LIMA -- Fourteen residences in the East South Range Road area of Beaver Township probably will have the option to tap into a water system provided by a local water company by the end of next year.
Beaver Township Trustee Chairman Larry Wehr said that the Ohio Department of Natural Resources informed him the department has set aside $100,000 for the project, which would extend waterlines to that area of the township.
Wehr said the township is working with ODNR to complete a design for the project. Wehr said that Aqua Ohio, the company supplying water, also is expected to make a financial contribution to the project.
Wehr works for Aqua Ohio.
Could be more
"We're looking at this as a start," Wehr said. "We know there may very well be other residences out there with bad well water. We encourage anyone who feels their well water is bad because of mining in the township to contact ODNR."
Residents from the East South Range Road area of the township attended several trustee meetings last year asking that something be done about bad water in their neighborhood.
Mining affects wells
Wehr asked ODNR to test water from more than a dozen wells in that area. He said as a result, ODNR determined at least 14 wells have been affected by mining, but the department is still working to determine how far-reaching the situation is.
Township officials have said they know many homes need new water, but before the ODNR can provide assistance to those residences, it must be determined that the wells have been affected by old mining in the area.
Once that has been established, it must be determined what replacement program will work. In the past few years, ODNR has dug a few new wells in the area, but that water also went bad.
"This is something that we know needs to be done for our residents," Wehr said. "We know the water is really bad, and we're going to do what we can to make it better for them."