Judge: Sewage, Drinking Water Problems Ignored
Published: April 25, 2009
AKRON, Ohio —The owners of an Ohio apartment complex have been fined more than $3 million for sewage and drinking water violations. Joel Helms and his father, James Helms, both of Green, were fined $3.1 million for violating a consent order on sewage violations and $825,000 for drinking water problems.
A Summit County judge ordered the apartment complex connected to the county’s sewage system within the next 30 days. If they comply, the Helms would be reimbursed for the fines. The ruling is part of a long legal fight over water quality at the complex. The Environmental Protection Agency has ruled the drinking water was contaminated with bacteria. The EPA has also said the owners neglected to test the drinking water, treat it with chlorine or notify tenants of the problems.
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Tap water most anywhere in this state has been ignored as far as I’m concerned…. even where I live in the northern Franklin County area. I’ve gotten so sick and tired of the chlorination, red iron, etc…it’s all just HARD Water. Overall the tap water tastes pretty nasty!! This whole state needs to revamp testings and get the tap water to be more natural tasting. I’m getting tired of spending money on water filters that don’t last very long because of the city waters having too many chemicals that has to be filtered out. Filtering the water is safest, but it is expensive. Also bottled water has been proven to not be so natural as the labels state they are, they are mostly just purified (filtered) waters…supposedly. Bottled water is expensive too!! Water is an important part of a good diet, but it is pretty discerning to know that the waters around the whole state is bad to drink unless you have an expensive filtering system.
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