OEPA issues directives, deadlines to deal with Sebring water situation

SEBRING

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has established a stringent set of compliance requirements and deadlines for the village water supply system after village officials failed until last week to report to the general public high lead levels recorded at water taps last summer.

Without being specific, the agency director also warned the village manager of potential escalating consequences for non-compliance.

“Your prompt attention to this matter is essential for protection of public health” of Sebring drinking water customers, Craig W. Butler, OEPA director, wrote to village Manager Richard Giroux last Thursday.

“Failure to complete these tasks within the time frames indicated will result in escalation and evaluation of the agency’s enforcement options,” Butler warned Giroux.

“While the village has a safe water source (the Mahoning River headwaters), and is producing clean drinking water, it is apparent from your recent tests that lead from residential piping is impacting the drinking water of certain homes,” Butler told Giroux.

While village officials were scrambling to meet OEPA requirements, schools reopened Wednesday after favorable lead test results were reported.

But Toni Viscounte, Sebring schools superintendent, decided to err on the side of caution.

Any wash basin or drinking fountain in the Sebring schools that tested over 5 parts per billion of lead has had its water supply shut off and it has been covered with plastic bags as a precaution, she announced. The federal lead action level is 15ppb.

Viscounte is seeking plumbers willing to donate their time to remove drinking fountains from school walls to enable lead tests on the plumbing leading to them.

For more on the situation and the next blood testing, read Thursday's Vindicator or Vindy.com.