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Township gets good housekeeping with BOH
(by Dedra Cordle, staff writer - June 10, 2010)
Jackson Township is in compliance with the good housekeeping standards set by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, says Paul Wenning, special projects coordinator with the Franklin County Board of Health.
Wenning attended the June 8 Jackson Township Board of Trustees meeting to give a brief update regarding the township's participation in the federally mandated National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) phase two permit. NPDES phase two is a program intended to reduce stream contamination that is caused by storm water discharges that carry gasoline, soil, sewage and other pollutants.
In order to be in compliance with the Ohio EPA, each township or municipality involved with the NPDES must meet six major goals. They include community outreach, construction runoff management, post construction runoff control management, illicit discharge detection and elimination, public education and good housekeeping. According to Wenning, Jackson Township excels at good housekeeping.
"You're in good shape; there are no problems there," he said.
As for public participation and outreach, Wenning suggested the township come up with a theme such as 'don't dump motor oil down the drain' or 'only rain down the drain' and have storm water or stream preservation displays in place at arts festivals or any other event where there would be a large gathering of community members. Wenning said it is important that the community know it is illegal to dump items in a storm drain. He said if residents witness someone throwing items down a storm sewer to call Nail-a-Dumper (871-5322). You can also report them at the website www.nailadumper.com.
In addition to giving tips on how to improve the township's involvement with the NPDES permit, Wenning explained his agency's role as well. He said one of the board of health's tasks is to identify and map every conveyance that delivers storm water to the creeks, lakes and rivers in Franklin County.
They collect samples of potentially polluted waterways, gather data and using that information, map and develop a process to rank all of the unsewered areas in the county. The ranking is designed to help the board of health determine which of the unsewered areas pose the greatest risk to the environment and the public health.
Wenning told that trustees that the board of health is working with the Franklin County Sanity Engineer to find ways to correct the sewage issues that exist in the most severely contaminated areas of Franklin County. In Jackson Township, those areas include Emersonia, Robin Estates and Mayfair Park.
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