Resident tells commissioners of raw sewage flooding, alleged threats; board refers her to health board

During the public-comment period Anita Brumbaugh, who provided her address to the record, described repeated raw sewage flooding at her property and alleged threats and unhelpful responses from county and township officials.

Brumbaugh said she has experienced raw sewage on her property multiple times, that family members and pets suffered adverse effects, and that she has repeatedly sought agency help without satisfactory results. "We have been flooded with raw sewage water 4 times," she said. She said a neighbor's outhouse was used by people she described as "heroin addicts," that emergency evacuation occurred after the sewage incident, and that her granddaughter suffered a collapsed lung from a bacterial infection after exposure.

She named a Trumbull County combined district employee, saying he called her a liar and refused to test her sump wells and cistern. She told the board she had put surveillance cameras at the property and has preserved records and correspondence. "I will no longer be threatened anymore. I'm not gonna be threatened," she said.

Commissioners and staff said the matter appears to fall under the authority of the Trumbull County Combined Health District, which operates under its own board. One commissioner urged the resident to attend the health board's meeting and said the commissioners would contact health officials on her behalf. A health department staff member gave the next board meeting date as Feb. 25 at 1:00 p.m. and explained that citizens must complete a form in advance to speak during that board's public comment section.

The commissioners committed to follow up by calling a named official (Frank Migliozzi) and advised Brumbaugh to leave contact information so staff could assist in getting her complaint directed to the proper authority. No formal action or county investigation was recorded at the commissioners' meeting.