Public health first, politics second, Mahoning commissioner says

January 29, 2016 at 12:09a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

State Rep. John Boccieri is calling on the Ohio House of Representatives to subpoena Ohio EPA Director Craig Butler to answer questions relating to the state’s “failure to protect the public for some six months” after lead was found in drinking water in Sebring and Beloit.

Boccieri, of Poland, D-59th, said he has repeatedly called on the director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to provide the public with answers to basic questions surrounding the renewal of water permits and sluggish communication that “forced seniors, pregnant mothers and children to unknowingly drink water contaminated with copper and lead.”

Amid the finger-pointing over the water crisis, Mahoning County officials are focused on the lead testing and emergency water-supply needs of the people affected, a county commissioner said.

“There’s going to be plenty of time to cast blame, and as this thing unfolds, it may disclose itself even more,” said Commissioner Anthony Traficanti at Thursday’s commissioners meeting in Youngstown.

He was reacting to U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan’s call for the resignation of Butler.

“To cast blame right now, or to throw eggs to make this thing any messier, or turn it into a political football totally will take away from the services the residents need,” Traficanti said.

In a letter to Speaker of the House Cliff Rosenberger, Boccieri wrote, “We have received no answer to our repeated questions about steps taken by the EPA, which shares a moral and legal obligation to notify the public when such a crisis evolves, to remedy this crisis.”

Butler is Gov. John Kasich’s former policy adviser and was appointed by Kasich to the Ohio EPA, Boccieri noted in a news release.

CONGRESSMAN ‘LIVID’

Ryan said he is “livid” that the Ohio EPA knew for months about high lead levels in Sebring’s water and didn’t let the public know about the problem.

“This is a complete debacle; playing Russian roulette” with people’s health, Ryan said Thursday. “It’s inconceivable.”

Ryan, of Howland, D-13th, said that decision shows a “lapse in judgment and a lack of ability to govern by the EPA. It’s mind-boggling to me.”

The congressman acknowledges that there was a responsibility by Sebring officials to notify residents of the lead levels, but “it doesn’t forgive that the EPA didn’t let the public know.”

Ryan’s congressional district doesn’t include Sebring, but he said he cares about all people in the Mahoning Valley.

Sebring is represented by U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson of Marietta, R-6th. In a statement, Johnson said, "Now isn’t the time for political finger-pointing; now is the time to fix the problem. It’s critically important that the people of Sebring have safe drinking water. The federal EPA sent Director Butler a letter on Tuesday approving of the Ohio EPA’s actions over the last week. I’ll continue to engage with state and local officials, and closely monitor developments on this important issue."

Ryan said he wants the state and federal governments to concentrate on rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure, including its waterlines.

As for funding, Ryan didn’t have much of a solution.

“We can get these issues on the radar screen, and hopefully people can push their legislators to do something,” he said.

“I hope these issues, as unfortunate as they are, will raise the importance of [clean water]. We built Afghanistan. We built Iraq. It’s time to rebuild this country.”

In a post on his Facebook page, Ryan wrote: “State officials knew for months that the water in Sebring contained high levels of lead, and did nothing to protect the men, women and children who rely on them for their safety and well being. I call for the immediate resignation of the Ohio EPA Director Craig Butler. The people of Ohio deserve better.”

In a follow-up conversation, Ryan said he posted after reading an article about the EPA’s being aware of the lead issue.

“I was really upset,” he said.

OEPA RESPONSE

“It is sad that the congressman’s first instinct is to play politics, even when the U.S. EPA has applauded Director Butler’s response,” said Heidi Griesmer, OEPA’s deputy director of communications.

Ryan said he had no interest in “playing politics” and his criticism is because “I care about the people of Sebring.”

“Our focus is getting this fixed, making sure this doesn’t happen again and removing a bad operator,” Griesmer said, alluding to Jim Bates, the Sebring water treatment plant superintendent, who is on paid administrative leave and facing OEPA license-revocation proceedings.

“The minute Director Butler learned of Sebring’s inaction, he took steps to help fix the problem and remove the rogue operator,” Griesmer said, adding that her agency is investigating the matter and will share more details when its probe is completed.

Butler said Bates failed to protect public health and may have falsified reports, but Bates emphatically denies any falsification.

On Tuesday, Robert A. Kaplan, the Chicago-based U.S. EPA deputy regional administrator, thanked Butler by letter for his “ongoing efforts to ensure public health protection” and said the federal agency “has no further recommendations for immediate action at this time.”

Meanwhile, the Free Press Standard in Carrollton is reporting that Malvern Mayor Angela Lambert has asked Bates to resign as her community’s licensed part-time water treatment plant operator, after she learned of the state agency’s probe of Bates.

However, the Carrollton paper quoted Lambert as saying there’s no reason to believe Malvern’s water, which comes from wells, is substandard.

“If somebody was at fault, then they’re going to have to be dealt with, whether it’s through the courts, through removal – that itself will have to play out,” Traficanti said.

HEALTH FIRST

“Those residents’ health comes first, and then all this political stuff can come second,” Traficanti said of Sebring-area residents.

Traficanti added, however, that he believes OEPA should have issued its own news release on lead contamination in Sebring water when it received lab results showing elevated lead levels last August, rather than waiting for the village to do so.

“Twinsburg’s not that far from Sebring,” Traficanti said, referring to the OEPA’s Northeast Ohio regional office location.

“You can’t throw blame just on Sebring,” said Commissioner Carol Rimedio-Righetti. “You have to look at who knew and what they should have done when they found out.

“Now we just need to get it done and fix it, so these people have safe water.”

The county board of health should test every water and beverage tap in every Sebring-area food and beverage sales location for lead, Traficanti said.

“I don’t want to go to a restaurant and order water – and now, I’m drinking lead,” he added.

“A lot of restaurants are using bottled water for everything,” Rimedio-Righetti said.

potential water source

Dennis O’Hara, county emergency management director, said lead tests are planned on water taps at Sebring-area fire stations, village hall and the community center.

If they pass, the public may be invited to fill water jugs at one or more of those locations, O’Hara said.

However, he noted that lead testing in water is not instantaneous.

Before a water sample can be drawn, the water must remain untouched for six hours within the pipe leading to the tap, he said.

Once a sample is collected, it must be held in the county board of health’s Austintown lab for 16 hours before it can be tested, O’Hara explained.

He said he doesn’t think Ohio National Guard water tankers are needed in Sebring. “We’re not at that point yet,” he added.

Free bottled-water distribution at the Sebring Community Center is now limited to Sebring water system customers, who must show identification, O’Hara said.

“We want to make sure that we’re hitting the target audience,” he said.

O’Hara told the commissioners more than 160 pallets of bottled water have been distributed in the Sebring area so far during the crisis, at the rate of about 23 pallets day, most of it having come from the Ohio Department of Health.

The village is expected to receive more pallets of water today from Home Depot, he added.

HOME LEAD INSPECTIONS

Phil Puryear, county director of lead-hazard control, said his office expects to check several Sebring-area homes for chipping and peeling lead paint and paint dust after children residing in them had elevated blood lead levels in recent tests, and to perform federally funded lead remediation in those homes if necessary.

“We got the referral from the Ohio Department of Health,” Puryear said.

“Anything over 5 micrograms per deciliter of blood is a level of concern. Anything over 10, they’re considered lead-poisoned,” he said.