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New salt shed linked to contamination fix
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - June 09, 2010)
New salt shed linked to contamination fix
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
Chardon Township Trustees took the first step last week in working to eliminate ground-water contamination from road salt at the service garage.
Trustees voted unanimously to hire the engineering firm of Burgess and Niple, of Painesville, to prepare a work plan for eliminating the leaching of salt from the road garage and monitoring the ground water. Before voting, trustees agreed to include construction of a new salt shed for storing and mixing salt.
An Ohio Environmental Protection Agency report in February pointed out the township's practice of mixing salt and cinders on permeable ground. The report said wells at three homes on Woodie Glen Drive and six others on Mentor Road, Breckenridge Drive and Woodie Glen Drive showed evidence of contamination by road salt.
The practice had been used at the site for 28 years.
The issue was brought to the forefront after Woodie Glen Drive residents James and Lisa Muzic brought concerns about their water to the township last year.
The original proposal by Burgess and Niple was projected to cost no more than $5,700.
Trustee Steven Borawski said he anticipates that the cost will increase because of additional work requested.
Under Burgess and Niple's proposal, engineers would conduct a site visit at the township's Mentor Road facility.
"The purpose of the visit will be to view the site, inspect potential sampling locations and meet with the Chardon Township personnel familiar with historical operations," the report said. "It is anticipated that site plans, including salt-bin details, will be obtained from Chardon Township during the visit, if available."
The company also plans to conduct soil sampling and analysis to delineate the extent of impacted soils. Similar analysis will be conducted for ground water. "The plan will include collection of ground-water samples from local residences and analysis to establish a 'baseline' for aquifer impacts," the report said.
The plan also calls for the installation to two to three monitoring wells to be installed at the service garage. Those wells are expected to determine background, source and immediate down-gradient ground-water quality. Surface water sampling of adjacent streams will be conducted to determine if they were impacted as well.
The company will lay out a schedule for the various phases of the work plan. Burgess and Niple also will provide cost estimates for implementation of the plan as part of its duties.
After completing the plan, the company plans to submit it for review by trustees. Following review, the plan will be submitted to the OEPA for approval.
Mr. Borawski said he hopes that at least one of the items in the proposal can be altered to reduce some cost to the township. Last week, he said, rather than drilling additional monitoring wells, the township could perform testing of wells by using only existing wells.
"I want to try to cut the costs down as much as possible because we're not rich," he said.
Mr. Borawski said he is hopeful the OEPA will allow the use of existing wells rather than add to the cost of boring additional wells.
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