Toledo Blade, Feb. 21, 1998
State complaint alleges violations
By Janet Romaker
Blade Staff Writer
DELTA – A 12-count complaint, alleging several violations of the state's drinking water laws, has been filed by the Ohio attorney general against a mobile home park near Delta.
The complaint was filed in Fulton County Common Pleas Court against the Forest Park Mobile Home Associates, a Michigan partnership, and Peter Kostishak, general partner, of Ann Arbor.
Residents at Forest Park have complained about water problems for a long time. Many residents refuse to drink the smelly, brackish water that spits and sputters from the taps in their homes.
In the last four months, 10 people have moved out because the tap water isn't fit to drink. Brian Fitzsimmons, manager of the mobile home park, said yesterday.
The mobile home park has a public water system from a groundwater source and its own wastewater treatment plant. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has repeatedly cited the park in recent years for water quality violations.
More than a year ago, Mr. Kostishak was ordered by Common Pleas Judge James Barber to provide residents with clean, safe water. Since then, drinking water from the village of Delta has been delivered to the mobile home park and stored in a 1,000-gallon tank. Residents fill jugs with water from the tank.
Mr. Kostishak could not be reached for comment.
"You can't wash clothes in the water. Sometimes the water comes out black," Mr. Fitzsimmons said. "You could drink it, but it's not recommended."
According to the complaint filed Thursday by the attorney general's office, Forest Park Mobile Home Associates exceeded the maximum contamination levels for microbiological contaminants and for radiological contaminants. The complaint says the mobile home partnership exceeded the action level for lead and failed to properly monitor the water for lead.
The partnership allegedly deepened the drinking water well and installed a water treatment system in 1996 without receiving approval from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Other allegations include that the partnership failed to maintain minimum chlorine residual through its distribution system; operated the water system without an updated contingency plan, and failed to develop a sample siting plan for coliform monitoring.
Monitoring violations, such as for nitrate and sulfate, are alleged in the complaint.
The mobile home partnership was cited for failing to notify the park's residents of its violations from 1994 to the present and for effluent violations in connection with discharging sewage or waste into Fewless Creek.
The complaint, which seeks civil penalties of between $10,000 to $25,000 per day for each violation, asks the court to issue an injunction to stop the defendants from violating the state's drinking water and wastewater disposal rules and regulations.
Residents at Forest Park have asked the village of Delta to extend a waterline to the mobile homes. About 80 people live at the mobile home park on County Road E.
"That's all the park really needs. I'm told we could get city water sometime this summer, but we've been promised city water for three years. If I see pipe on the ground and a ditch being dug, I'll believe it," Mr. Fitzsimmons said.
He and most others who live at the mobile home park get their drinking water from the storage tank, but many are selective about using the water.
"It's OK for boiling rice or for mashed potatoes," he said, but he prefers store-bought water for his coffee.
The park's water causes corrosion, Mr. Fitzsimmons said.
Residents have complained that the water ruins appliances, plumbing, and hot water heaters.
Issue: Providing safe drinking water is a serious public health issue, therefore, enforcement actions may be necessary if water suppliers are neglecting their responsibilities.
How would you make sure that the people responsible for each of the drinking water systems in the state are being careful and conscientious?
Only our elected representatives can prescribe penalties if enforcement actions are necessary. The goal the U.S. Congress wrote in the Safe Drinking Water Act is to bring all water systems into compliance so that all customers can rely on receiving safe water.
Sometimes a water system owner does not cooperate and does not work toward the compliance goal. In these instances, enforcement actions may be necessary. The U.S. Congress mandates through the Safe Drinking Water Act that the states adopt the authority to assess civil and administrative penalties.
The Ohio Legislature has authorized the director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to order corrections to drinking water systems and to seek civil or administrative penalties for violations. The director may also seek criminal prosecution for felonies, such as falsification of records.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has established a program of escalating enforcement. Enforcement steps may include:
If a water system is cooperative in correcting deficiencies identified by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency field staff, no penalties are assessed. Penalties are always assessed if the case must be referred to the attorney general's office.