The utility coalition of Alexandria, Granville and Johnstown that is seeking the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s permission to provide water and sewer service in parts of western Licking County has been told it has more work to do.
In a letter to the engineering firm working with the coalition, Ashley Ward, acting chief of the EPA’s Surface Water Division, said the proposal by the Municipal Utility Coalition of Licking County conflicts with current service-area boundaries set by the state.
The letter also said the coalition’s proposal, submitted in May, lacks specific information on several other points. It also admonishes the coalition and other service providers to talk with each other.
“Ohio EPA continues to encourage collaboration between the coalition members and the existing wastewater management agencies, Licking County Commissioners and Licking Regional Water District (LRWD), to reach a compromise on future sewer services in western Licking County,” Ward wrote.
Ward wrote that the plan “lacks significant water quality-related reasons to replace the existing management agencies and their ongoing wastewater plans with the coalition members and plan.”
She wrote further that the coalition plan “lacks the necessary agreements among affected communities and management agencies currently responsible for wastewater planning” in that part of the county.
And Ward noted that the current state-designated service area plan “is a water-quality planning document, and attainment of applicable water-quality standards is the primary criteria the agency uses when evaluating sewer and wastewater plans.”
The Licking Regional Water District, which is currently the designated provider of water and sewer service for much of the same territory the coalition seeks to serve, sent a letter to the EPA in February asking that the EPA affirm that position and reject the coalition’s attempt to be named the official provider for Monroe and St. Albans townships, and the part of Jersey Township that is within the Johnstown-Monroe School District.
While the EPA gave the coalition a four-page list of deficiencies to address Ward’s Aug. 25 letter, one of its representatives said that it was expected because such feedback is common in the EPA process.
“We are in the early stages of an interactive process with EPA,” said Granville Village Manager Herb Koehler, speaking for the coalition. “While we still believe this letter over-emphasizes current jurisdictional service boundaries … we do appreciate the feedback.”
The Municipal Utility Coalition of Licking County sent a letter to the EPA on May 15 responding to the LRWD’s February letter, arguing that the coalition should be the designated service provider for much of the same area.
And Koehler said that sentiment is based in part on the hope that a broader ongoing conversation with the Ohio EPA will result in a change in the state-designated service-area boundaries – and that changes will favor the coalition’s proposal.
He said the coalition will work on the EPA’s to-do list and continue the conversation with the agency.
The coalition has said it wants to provide water and sewer service in Granville, Monroe and St. Albans Township to have more control over growth management in the rural areas around Granville, Johnstown and Alexandria.
Alan Miller writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.