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Plan of action in place for Struthers waste treatment plant woes
STRUTHERS
Struthers City Council is trying to determine how to proceed in regard to recent revelations that the city’s waste treatment plant was being managed without a certified Class IV operator overseeing the facility.
Bob Gentile, plant superintendent, has operated the plant with an expired Class IV wastewater operator’s license since Jan. 1, 2016. Class IV certificates are active for two years before requiring a renewal. If certificate holders fail to renew before the two years end, they are given a one-year grace period to renew the license. Once the grace period has passed, license holders must retake the Class IV operator’s test to obtain their credentials again.
Council convened for a special meeting Wednesday night, adjourning to executive session. At the regular meeting after the special meeting, no mention was made of the wastewater situation.
After the meetings, Mayor Terry Stocker said the city had been working with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to ensure the city is in compliance with the agency’s requests.
The city is seeking candidates with Class IV operator certificates to take over Gentile’s position. The plant is being overseen by Jeffery High, a Class III wastewater operator who is serving as the operator of record. He can manage the plant for 30 days before the city must put a Class IV operator in place or file for an extension to continue searching for a replacement.
Gentile plans to retire and has offered to help with the transition process in whatever capacity he can. He said he never received a notification from the EPA that his certificate was in need of a renewal.
The EPA sends out renewal notices to operators whose licenses are near expiration.
Since the time of his last renewal, Gentile had moved, and despite changing his personal address with the U.S. Post Office, the change of address apparently never made it to the EPA.
“The EPA admitted there was fault on their end that the notices never reached Mr. Gentile,” Stocker said. “As a result of this incident, they told us they’d actually be changing their protocol for sending out reminders.”
Stocker said the city leadership did not check on the status of their department managers’ certifications, but said moving forward they will be more vigilant in ensuring credentials are up-to-date.
Though Gentile could reapply to take the Class IV wastewater operator’s exam and re-obtain his license, he said he wouldn’t pursue that route. “The first time I took the test, it took me a year to complete,” he said. “It’s like a thesis; you spend months writing, and then your work is reviewed by a board of other Class IVs. I’m near the end of my career, I’m not going to go through that again.”
Though Gentile could potentially appeal the ruling from the EPA, he said he didn’t plan on litigating the matter; he simply wanted to put the situation behind him and help the city move on. “I’ve always been loyal to this city, and I intend to help in the transition process in any way I can and in any way they want me.”
Gentile could not have renewed without the form sent by the EPA; in order for wastewater operators to renew their licenses, they must send the completed renewal form and $65 to the agency.
Gentile, who ran the plant for 36 years, had been up-to-date on his credentials before this instance. He filed for a renewal of a similar operator’s license in Pennsylvania in 2016, the same year his Ohio license fell out of date.
“I got a reminder for that one,” he said. “Why would I jeopardize a 36-year career over a renewal and a $65 fee that the city will reimburse? I just didn’t know I was out of date.”