By Kerry Rahm
krahm@wbcowqel.com
The aquifer issue was once again the main topic of conversation at the Jefferson Township trustees meeting on Monday night.
Construction of the Sleep Inn hotel on Ohio 598 has raised many questions among the township’s trustees and residents as to whether the project is causing problems with wells in the area.
Howard Morrow, one of the men who is speaking out about such problems, related that he has been in contact with the offices of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, as well as an EPA office in Chicago concerning the matter.
“The lady in Chicago said, really, it’s all in local hands,” Morrow said.
“This is supposed to be a retention area, and that’s dry,” he explained. “The minute they get the parking lot to the hotel done, and the occupancy there… you know what happens to cars when they pull in, and all of a sudden, they have an oil leak, transmission fluid is running out on the pavement, it all goes into the catch basin and it runs into the aquifer.
“That aquifer is gonna be there forever until we seal it off, back to its natural state. I won’t stop until that happens. They got to haul all the material back in.”
Kathryn Weber, the township’s fiscal officer, explained where the township will go from this point, as the trustees had previously been advised that they could not to seek a temporary restraining order for the project.
There was clarification about what the trustees can and cannot accomplish regarding the issue.
“As a township board of trustees, they can’t do anything about the people across the street, who are residents of our township’s water. But those people can, they can, but the township can’t, and the township can’t spend monies to defend their water.
“The bigger problem, which will encompass the water, is the whole dual jurisdiction issue,” she said. Galion shares jurisdiction with Jefferson Township on the project site.
“We’re all about the project, we couldn’t be more happy about the project, but Mr. Morrow came to us at our last regular meeting about a month ago, along with some of our township people, who were worried about their wells.
After the trustees became more informed about potential problems, Weber had this to say, “If they’re not issuing the proper permits, if they don’t have the proper plans… we could have a liability down the road, too, if the storm sewers aren’t done properly.
“The township wants to be very cautious,” she added.
Weber said it is likely that the next course of action would be to seek outside legal counsel regarding annexation rights to protect the township.
“We need to iron out any misconceptions that Galion may have about what rights we have to say about how things are being handled there, in the construction and development areas.
“It all circles back; it probably will solve the water problem for the residents, too.”
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