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Council member reports black, red dye in creek traced to H and H Wood Fiber; EPA contacted
Summary
A council member told the Village of Mount Orab council that he traced black then red dye entering a local creek to H and H Wood Fiber, saying the discharge has 'voided the creek of any life at all'; he said he contacted the EPA and offered to bring samples for testing. Council asked staff to follow up and research enforcement options.
A council member at a Village of Mount Orab meeting said he traced black and red water entering a creek to a pipe behind H and H Wood Fiber and that the discharge appears to have killed aquatic life.
"That catch pond back there ... is absolutely positively filled with nothing but pure black water that is draining ... into the creek," the council member said, adding that "the concentration of it has voided the creek of any life at all. There's no snails. There's no water bugs. There's no minnows." He said he collected a sample and had not yet heard back from the Environmental Protection Agency.
The council member said the water turns red after sitting in the sun and described the discoloration as a dye he understood to be nontoxic; he warned, however, that the observed concentrations appeared to remove dissolved oxygen from the water, making it unable to sustain life.
Council members discussed whether H and H Wood Fiber holds a discharge permit for the outfall the speaker described. "If they don't have a discharge permit, there's a huge problem there that needs to be addressed," the council member said. He urged the village to consider penalties that would motivate businesses to fix problems.
Another council member said he had asked the EPA and local utilities to look into the situation and that he would accept any samples brought to the village for testing. The speaker who offered to supply another sample said he would bring it to the meeting to drop off for officials to review.
The council did not record a formal enforcement action or vote on a penalty at the meeting. Members agreed to take the report under consideration and to research options for fines or other mechanisms to address discharges from private properties. The council also discussed whether state or federal permits would govern allowable dye or runoff levels and said staff should follow up with regulators.
The matter — including a council member's offer to provide water samples and a request for the village to research enforcement options — will be addressed at a future meeting if further action is needed.
