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Sludge dewatering would cut phosphorous in lake Oregon’s wastewater treatment plant sludge dewatering improvements project is expected to reduce nutrients that end up in Lake Erie. The city applied to the Ohio Public Works Commission for $3 million in funds for the project, which will remove liquid from treated sewage (sludge) and dispose of the product in a landfill. The city expects the current practice of applying liquid treated sludge to farm fields as fertilizer to end. By dewatering and landfilling the sludge, total phosphorous applied to fields in the Western Lake Erie watershed is expected to be reduced by 32,271 pounds annually. Phosphorous is what feeds the algal blooms in the lake, which have been getting bigger and more frequent over the years. The primary source of the blooms is fertilizer runoff from farm fields during heavy spring rains that flow into ditches, rivers and then Lake Erie. “For many years, Oregon has done field applications of its sludge,” said Administrator Mike Beazley. “It has worked well for us historically. It’s been an asset to farmers in the general region. But there’s been a couple of things that have changed over time that have led us to explore dewatering and seek funding for it.”
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Walls may be in response to a sensitivity that one wants to avoid. Bryan Golden See page 7
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We feel this is going to be a more expensive operation long term, so with those factors, we feel it is prudent to seek funding.
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By Kelly J. Kaczala Press News Editor kkaczala@presspublications.com
There is the sense, he said, that the U.S. EPA and Ohio EPA will in the future make the application to farm fields unacceptable as part of the city’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination (NPDES) permit. Also, by dewatering, the city hopes to create additional storage capacity at its wastewater treatment plant that can be used for wet weather events. During the city’s last renewal of its NPDES permit, there was a $16 million upgrade to the treatment plant, said Beazley. “The upgrade was mostly on the treatment side, and we avoided considerable expense that was originally contemplated to do additional storage,” he said. “It’s only 3 ½ years until the next time we’re actually sitting around the table with the Ohio EPA. One of the ways we think we can help create additional space and capacity for storage is the space we now use to store our sludge, and sometimes it’s there for a longer time than we intended. That space could become available for wet weather events as well. Obviously, it’s not the only reason, but it’s another factor we think makes sense for us long term.” A final, additional factor is that residential patterns have changed, he said. “We have seen less of an appetite for some of our subdivisions and neighbors and Continued on page 2
Students serve the needy
Waite High School students distributed food and gift baskets to needy families in East Toledo. The school has been honoring this Christmas tradition for 83 years. Pictured, Waite senior Jovan Sanson loads up a van for drop-off. Sanson was involved in the program through the National Honor Society and he also volunteered. "We are delivering baskets for other organizations that are not able to," said Sanson. (Press Photo by Stephanie Szozda)
Miller’s shopper grateful for Good Samaritan Santa Like many shoppers these days, Mitzie Paule stays mindful of her grocery budget, which doesn’t always stretch far enough, especially at the holidays. Paule, 84, had an bigger-than-usual list of groceries she wanted to pick up on a recent trip to Miller’s New Market in Genoa – ingredients she’d need for baking her Christmas cookies and special drinks for the grandkids. “Before I left with the checkbook, my husband reminded me that I only had about $100 to spend,” said Paule. As she made her way through the store aisles, she chose
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I had heard about people doing these acts of kindness, but this is the first time it’s ever happened to me.
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By Tammy Walro Press Features Editor twalro@presspublications.com
her groceries, separating the necessities from the things she didn’t absolutely need, in case she needed to put some things back.
“I knew I was probably between $85 and $100, pretty close to my limit for sure,” she said. At the store checkout, she decided she’d better forgo a few things, apologizing to the clerk and promising to come back in and return the items to the store shelves after she got her bags into her car. “They told me not to worry about it, that they’d take care of it,” Paule said. Just as the young carryout attendant had finished loading the groceries into her car, she heard the rear door open. “I saw a hand reach in and put in a few more bags,” Paule said. “He said, ‘Here…you might need these.’ It was the groceries I left behind.” Though she was startled, Paule was
not scared, she said, because she recognized the man, a familiar face around town and owner of a downtown business. Paule, who owned the Portage Inn twenty-some years ago, had exchanged greetings with him in the store. “I said, ‘Golly…what’s this?” she said, and then thanked her Samaritan Santa Claus. “I had heard about people doing these acts of kindness, but this is the first time it’s ever happened to me,” she said. “It’s such a great feeling, especially at the holidays,” she said. “It’s a reminder that there really are good, generous people in our local community,” she said. “That’s why I like to patronize my local stores,” she said.