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City water is on way to gas-well victims
(by Joan Demirjian - November 18, 2009)
City water is on way to gas-well victims
By JOAN DEMIRJIAN
Residents in the area of English, Scotland and Kingswood drives in Bainbridge, where methane gas escaped from a gas well, have been seeking a reliable source of water since 2007.
"This is something we've been waiting for for two years," English Drive resident Ruth Cooper said. "It's been a long time. Too long."
She is still using bottled water for drinking and cooking, she said.
Hers and her neighbors' water wells were contaminated by the methane gas when it seeped into the aquifer from the gas well. The gas exploded in one house and made other wells unusable for drinking and cooking.
Some residents have been using water in tanks in their garages supplied by Ohio Valley Energy, of Austintown, owner of the gas well.
Now, a Geauga County waterline is being installed on Bainbridge Road to bring city water to serve 22 homes in the area. Ohio Valley Energy is paying for the line.
Joan Donaldson, of English Drive, said she is looking forward to city water. She has been using bottled water for cooking and drinking. She had a tank in her garage from December 2007, when the gas infiltrated the water wells, through April 2008.
"I'm going to be very happy to get city water," Mrs. Donaldson said. "It's the only way our property values are going to go back up."
The house in which the gas exploded was bought by Ohio Valley Energy from Richard and Thelma Payne. It has since been remodeled.
The residents who will hook up to city water will be paying regular water bills. "I have no idea what the cost of city water is," Mrs. Donaldson said. She believes it should be a cost picked up by Ohio Valley Energy.
"I just want my home back the way it was," she said.
She had to move out of her house for 12 days after the methane gas invaded the houses. By 6 a.m. on the day of the explosion, she was out of her house because of the high methane-gas levels, she recalled.
Methane-gas detectors are installed in the houses and are being used to alert residents when the readings are too high.
Mrs. Donaldson said the work crews have been cutting down trees to make way for the waterline. They cleared the corner of English and Bainbridge roads, leaving the house on the southwest corner stripped of the trees that had been growing there, she said.
Irv Mesmer has lived on Scotland Drive for 52 years. He liked his well water, and he is not looking forward to the water bills from city water, he said. The homes in the area were built in the 1950s and 1960s.
Mr. Mesmer has been using bottled water for drinking and cooking. He said he is having problems now with black water from the well in the toilet bowl and tub.
He is not looking forward to the city water bills, especially when he uses the water for his gardens outside, he said.
Mr. Mesmer said he does not expect the city waterline to be ready until after the first of the year.
He gave credit to Ohio Department of Natural Resources for helping residents to get the waterline and getting the work to progress.
ODNR required Ohio Valley Energy to install the city waterline to serve those whose water wells were impacted by the methane gas. The line of 13,600 feet will cost approximately $950,000 and will include fire hydrants along the way.
Gerry Morgan, of the Geauga County Department of Water Resources, which will take over the line when it is completed, said the construction of the waterline was slowed, because they encountered some rock near Geauga Lake Road.
Geauga County Engineer Robert Phillips said the installation was doing well until they hit the underground rock. The right equipment has to be brought in, he said.
There was some concern at the township level, because the plans call for cutting through Scotland and English drives, instead of boring under them.
Bainbridge Township Trustee Jeffrey Markley said, as was explained by Mr. Phillips, after the cuts in the township roadways are made and the line installed, the holes will be filled with concrete and the top with asphalt.
It is not expected to settle, Mr. Markley said. The cuts will be repaved next year, and the project is on the road department's work plan.
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