About two dozen Licking County residents gathered in the Johnstown Public Library Wednesday evening for a second round of Ohio Environmental Protection Agency public hearings on a proposed wastewater treatment plant in St. Albans Township near Alexandria and Granville.
The Raccoon Creek Wastewater Treatment Center proposed by the Licking Regional Water District would send up to 3 million gallons of treated wastewater a day into a small tributary of Raccoon Creek, and the facility would serve fast-growing Jersey Township and the Rt. 161 corridor east of New Albany.
After public criticism during the first hearing on July 17, 2024, the Ohio EPA asked Licking Regional Water District to revise its permit application to address concerns raised by area residents.
| Read more: A packed house tells the Ohio EPA: Don’t approve a permit for a sewage-treatment plant near Alexandria and Granville
During this week’s hearing on June 25, Ohio EPA representatives explained the changes LRWD made in its permit application, specifically addressing how the utility will clean the wastewater with filtration and ultraviolet disinfection to address concerns area residents raised about pollution and to follow federal policies regarding anti-degradation of waterways.
Most residents who spoke during the hearing – including public officials from the nearby communities of Alexandria, Granville and Johnstown – raised concerns about the quality of water in Moots Run and Raccoon Creek if the wastewater facility is built on 92 acres along Rt. 161/37 at Outville Road.
Only two people spoke in favor of the permit – Jersey Township Administrator Rob Platte and Jim Roberts, the executive director of Licking Regional Water District.
Roberts said LRWD has the legal authority to serve a large portion of western Licking County.
“The Licking Regional Water District is the legally designated wastewater service provider for the unincorporated areas of Jersey, St. Albans and Monroe townships,” he said, based on the water quality management plan for the region and a service agreement approved by the Licking County Commissioners.
Platte said that Alexandria, Granville and Johnstown have formed the Municipal Utility Coalition of Licking County to offer water and sewer service to some of the same unincorporated areas, but he argues they don’t have the authority to do so.
“Any opposition to this permit is about authority, control, and money,” Platte said. “We heard from the three entities that make up what we know as MUC. … They don’t have the authority to control the money for utility service outside of their own municipal boundaries. MUC is not a legally recognized entity.
“Even if they were a legally recognized entity, how can you submit a draft utilities plan requesting permission to serve an area of Licking County that you don’t have the legal authority to serve?” Platte asked. “MUC members want to dictate growth, infrastructure, and development policies in communities that they do not govern.”
Officials from Alexandria, Granville and Johnstown, who are part of the coalition, have raised virtually the same concern about Licking Regional Water District – that if the permit is approved, the utility could potentially provide sewer and water service to unincorporated areas without regard to the comprehensive growth and development plans in those areas.
They also continue to raise concerns about the potential environmental impacts.
Granville Village Manager Herb Koehler said after the meeting that comments by Roberts and Platte lacked context and might have created some confusion.
“Jim Roberts mentioned that, in his view, Licking Regional has the legal authority to serve that area, and we don’t dispute that,” Koehler said. “But the EPA asked us almost two years ago to work together to find solutions that might result in changes in the service boundaries. I just remind people that this was at the request of the Ohio EPA.”
Koehler said coalition members met with Roberts “almost a dozen times over the past two years. Those conversations started and stopped a few times. In the past few weeks, myself and my counterpart at Johnstown reached out to him about meeting – with a tepid response.”
Roberts said during the hearing that his “door is always open to concerned citizens.” Koehler said the coalition remains open to discussions with Roberts and Platte.
Koehler also noted that Roberts criticized the coalition for holding what he characterized as a double standard because the coalition plans include building a wastewater treatment plant somewhere along Raccoon Creek that would be of similar size to the one proposed by LRWD.
“Our plan calls for a treatment plant somewhere in the vicinity of Alexandria, but only if needed,” Koehler said. “The difference between our plans is that (LRWD) wants to build a plant based on unknown needs, and ours would be built as needed – 15 to 20 years away – and not speculatively.”
Koehler, who has consistently spoken against the LRWD permit, said during the hearing that Granville officials are opposed to LRWD building a plant in St. Albans Township to serve communities outside of that community.
“Raccoon Creek provides water to the aquifer that thousands of people get their water from,” he said, referring to Granville obtaining drinking water for Granville and Alexandria from wells that are recharged in part by Raccoon Creek. “I want to find a better solution, a better location, and a better plan. Granville wants the best for Licking County.”
Alexandria Mayor Sean Barnes also spoke in opposition, saying that he has concerns about how the treatment facility would affect growth and development in St. Albans Township, where voters in the township and Alexandria will vote this November on a proposal to merge the two into one municipality to better manage growth.
| Read more: St. Albans and Alexandria residents to vote on merger, potential mayor and council members in November election
Barnes said that LRWD had been in conversation with the municipalities about their respective interests in serving western Licking County, but that LRWD backed away from the conversation.
“People support the merger because of this permit; they do not want this in their town,” Barnes said, adding that Moots Run has a low flow for the majority of the year and raised concerns about flooding and pollution with the addition of 3 million gallons a day of treated wastewater.
Johnstown City Manager Sean Staneart voiced concerns regarding the financial risk involved with approving the permit. “Development plans can change; they are forcing growth rather than fostering it. I am sure we can find alternatives to this permit,” Staneart said, adding that he looks forward to future discussions with Roberts.
Most questions and comments from residents who spoke during the hearing were about stream water quality and monitoring.
“Who will be in charge of testing?” asked one resident.
Another was concerned specifically about polyfluorinated compounds, also known as “PFAs,” and sometimes called “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down in the environment.
The Ohio EPA officials said the LRWD will test monthly and submit results to the Ohio EPA to test the levels of nitrates, phosphorus, oxygen, and other potential contaminants. And they said the EPA does a periodic test for microbial contaminants, lead, nitrates and nitrites, arsenic, disinfection byproducts, pesticides, and solvents.
But David Brumbaugh, a leader for the Ohio EPA’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, noted that PFAs are not yet on the list of chemicals to be treated or monitored, but they are considered an emerging contaminant by the Ohio EPA.
Another question to the EPA was about how much weight the EPA places on comments from such hearings: “Do you consider us, the residents, who this wastewater treatment plant won’t service?” one person asked.
Brumbaugh and Walter Ariss, NPDES manager in the Ohio EPA Division of Surface Water, explained that it is not uncommon for such a facility to be built in a community it does not serve.
“Wastewater treatment plants are often not in the area they serve,” Ariss said, and used Columbus and Franklin County as an example.
Platte said during the hearing that further delay in issuing a permit to LRWD “is a waste of taxpayer dollars.”
EPA officials at the hearing said the agency will consider comments made during the meeting and those received by the EPA as it determines whether to approve the permit.
The EPA will continue taking comments through Wednesday, July 2, by using the EPA’s Public Comment Form; or by mail to Ohio EPA-DSW, Attn: Permits Processing, PO Box 1049, Columbus, OH 43216-1049. Refer to application #OH0151691.
Delaney Brown 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.