E. Liverpool wins suit against water district

The district is expected to run water to a plant that would turn coal into liquid fuel.

By D.A. WILKINSON

VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU

LISBON — A Columbiana County official says a $9.7 million court judgment against a local water supplier won’t hurt the county’s economic growth.

Judge C. Ashley Pike of the county’s common pleas court released his ruling Wednesday in a breach-of-contract dispute between East Liverpool and the Buckeye Water District.

The judge ruled for the city. Judge Pike stated that he was so persuaded by East Liverpool’s legal arguments that he used them almost verbatim in his ruling.

In 1995, the county agreed to get treated Ohio River water from the city. The water district, in turn, distributed that water in the southern portion of the county and as far north as West Point.

In 2003, Al DeAngelis, the director of Buckeye, told the city it had breached the agreement when the city’s water treatment process failed to remove levels of pollutants called trihalomethanes.

In 2005, the district quit buying water from the city. The district now takes its water from the river.

Judge Pike wrote the district had given a number of reasons for the split.

“Simply put, the reasons given by the district as to the city’s alleged breach of contract were never true reasons at all. They were pretext. The district simply made a business decision to obtain its own water and that is what it did,” the judge wrote.

Several of the district’s witnesses also showed a lack of credibility, the judge added.

“Those witnesses were either vague or evasive in their testimony and attempted to engraft upon the clear language of the contract their perceptions of what they thought the contract meant,” the judge wrote.

The district complained to East Liverpool about trihalomethanes, which are formed during the water treatment process and have been linked to adverse health effects at high concentrations.

DeAngelis told the city in 2003 that it was in violation of the contact because of the high trihalomethanes’ readings. Judge Pike’s ruling said the city was in violation over the concentration of trihalomethanes in 2004, but DeAngelis testified the water was perfectly safe.

DeAngelis said the judge’s ruling likely will be appealed. He said he thought the ruling will not stop the county’s economic growth.

The district’s lawyer, Dennis O’Toole, said there is no insurance that would cover a breach-of-contract judgment against Buckeye.

Commissioner Jim Hoppel said, “I don’t think it will impact [economic] growth.” He declined further comment.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently gave the water district $24 million to create its new water plant. Part of that was an $8 million grant, and the rest will be repaid as a low-interest loan. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency also provided $11 million for the plant.

DeAngelis has said that Buckeye would likely provide water to the proposed $5.5 billion Baard Energy plant near Wellsville. The plant would provide thousands of construction jobs alone. The OEPA is studying Baard’s proposed permit for the coal-to-fuel plant.

wilkinson@vindy.com