The third well was an option the agency presented in lieu of a fine for owner Tim Dearwester this spring when it handed down orders after several violations and a series of service problems at the 200-unit park.
“That’s in the orders,” OEPA Spokeswoman Dina Pierce said of the fine, which she described as “mid-range” for financial penalties handed down by the agency.
“It is already negotiated and agreed to. So he owes it and we’re going to remind him of that,” she added. “And then beyond that, we haven’t made a decision” on the next step.
A common option in such cases, she said, is to refer the issue to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, which could take the matter to civil court.
Meanwhile, the OEPA intends to keep a close eye on water service at Pineview, Pierce said. The agency has been dealing with the park consistently since a string of water service problems — many of them involving non-functioning wells — began about 10 months ago.
“We’re not stepping away from it,” she said.
Pierce said the agency will monitor Pineview’s water system closely to ensure work that has been done is effective.
“The orders were just to get the system back into normal operations,” she said. “So we’re going to need to evaluate over a longer period of time to see if there is no further service disruptions, no further violations in the coming months to determine if all of this has been effective.”
Several attempts to reach Dearwester, who has been dealing directly with the OEPA, in recent days have been unsuccessful.
One Pineview resident said Tuesday the fine may serve as a “wake-up call.”
Duane Glidewell has questioned Dearwester’s commitment to the mobile home park and its tenants. Glidewell said while the water service has improved, he continues to buy bottled water rather than drink the park’s well water, which he has said has a “brown tint.”
The agency has not yet sent a letter to Dearwester, but plans to do so in the near future, Pierce said.
“When we officially contact him with the letter … we’ll wait on his response and then make a decision,” she said.
Fines can vary from a few thousand dollars on up, Pierce said, noting the one Dearwester faces in is the medium range.
“Our goal is not to bankrupt somebody,” she said. “But at the same time, you want them to feel the penalty.”
The agency would rather entities in violation would invest in fixing the issue rather than pay a fine. The penalties are based on a formula that considers several factors, including the risk to human health; the level of cooperation, history of offenses and the ability to pay, officials said.
At no time since December — when an array of service problems began — has the Pineview water system shown to be a health risk, Pierce said.
Dearwester’s response to the agency’s upcoming letter may give it a better idea of what route to take, Pierce said.
Installing a third well or paying a $12,000 fine were the only two of nine orders the agency mandated that Dearwester had not complied with by a Sept. 15 deadline, Pierce said. The nine orders were outlined in an April 22 letter to Dearwester from OEPA Director Craig Butler.
Those orders had varying completion times and the agency informed Dearwester in July that he had failed to meet some deadlines, including one to repair a backup well. The OEPA later extended the deadlines to Sept. 15, records show.
The April 22 letter also outlined eight violations dating back to September 2010, although agency documents show violations at Pineview as early as July 2009. Among the violations noted in the April 22 letter was that Dearwester failed to maintain an updated written contingency plan for providing safe drinking water to park residents under emergency conditions.
The lack of a functioning backup well has been at the heart of many of the service problems at the park since December. The park’s residents have experienced several service problems — requiring water to be brought in each time — because the only functioning well broke down, according to the OEPA.
After service was restored on each occasion, boil advisories were issued until the water was deemed safe to consume, officials said.
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