Monday, March 21, 2016
SEBRING
A $404,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture grant will help Sebring cover costs it has incurred related to high lead levels in drinking water and help prevent future high lead levels.
The village has spent more than $70,000 to respond to the crisis, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown said in announcing the grant Monday.
“We simply can’t take chances with our children’s health, pure and simple,” Brown said. “That’s why our office called the [U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] in January when this story broke when we first learned about the crisis.”
Village Manager Richard D. Giroux said the grant “substantially minimizes the financial impact of the water crisis to the village.”
Bret E. Norton, an engineer with W.E. Quicksall & Associates Inc. of New Philadelphia, the village’s consulting engineers, said about $220,000 will be used to add orthophosphate to the water.
That chemical adds a layer of protection to the inside of water pipes and plumbing to reduce the amount of lead that leaches from them into the water.
The village has been adding orthophosphate to the water for about three weeks on a temporary basis. When construction at the treatment plant is finished, it will be added on a permanent basis, Norton said.
Read more about the situation in Tuesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.