EAST LIVERPOOL — Tim Clark, East Liverpool Board of Public Utilities (BPU), told council members during Monday’s meeting of the East Liverpool City Council that he needed to make them aware of an issue that has come up with the city’s water department.

According to Clark, the water department has been issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a tier 2 violation requiring the city fix the deficiencies and violations. It also means the water department has to make the customers aware of the issues by sending a letter to all customers by Feb. 14.

If the violation goes to tier 3 the EPA can start issuing orders on fixing the issue and daily fines until it is resolved.

The city was notified of the violation by a letter dated Jan. 25 from the EPA citing a failure to correct sanitary survey significant deficiency that was required by the agency in 2022. The letter noted that the water department is in violation of treatment techniques requirements for a significant deficiency by the Ohio Administrative Code (OAC).

The following information is to be included the notice:

“The East Liverpool City PWS (Public Water System) failed to complete the necessary water treatment plant upgrades to repair the filter basin walls, replace the filter media and inspect and repair the settling basins,” The letter from EPA said. “The PWS also failed to make improvements to the distribution system to reduce unaccounted for water and failed to implement a backflow prevention program consistent with the requirements of Chapter 3745-95 f the OAC.”

The letter will also inform residents/customers that there is nothing for them to do at this time, the situation does not require them to take any action, and the water department is investigating and taking necessary steps to correct the problem as soon as possible.

The letter will also include the phone number for the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline where customers can get general guidelines on way to lessen the risk of infection by microbes.

Clark said the violation does not affect the water quality. He also said be requiring the public notice the EPA is trying to embarrass the Water Department and make everybody aware they have dropped the ball on this.

The EPA outlined in the letter what immediate action the city needs to take.

Action need to be taken include Reviewing the sanitary survey notice of the violation letter and consult with the EPA regarding the water department’s corrective action plan which has to be in accordance with the scheduled prescribed in November, notify the residents served by the water system by mail with public notices being sent issued every three months and posted notices which must remain in place until the violations are resolved, complete a verification form within 10 days of issuing public notice.

A consumer confidence report according to the EPA must contain the following statement every year until the issue is corrected:

“We were informed by the Ohio EPA that significant deficiencies had been identified on April 15, 2022. We were directed to correct the deficiencies in accordance with a schedule acceptable to the director in letters dated July 6 and Aug. 25, 2022, but we failed to do so. We are implementing/have completed the corrective action plan which is (describe corrective action plan by date) as prescribed by the Ohio EPA.”

Clark said that the Safety Service Office back in the 2022, issued a letter to the EPA identifying how they planned to fix the violations, and they applied for some funding and grants apparently fell through or an engineering firm was never hired to initiate the plan.

Clark said when the BPU was revived in 2024 they were aware of these issues, but they weren’t making an issue of it then because they were focused on putting more staff in place and repairing the actuators and the pier.

Clark presented a draft of a contract with Utility Service Co. Inc. for concrete asset maintenance which will cost $569,501 a year for three years and fourth year at $1,075 for an approximate total of $1.7 million to attempt to fix the issues.