Schelle said the city has a permit with the Ohio EPA that requires the city to check all stormwater pipes.
“We just thought that if we’re going to be visiting stormwater pipes, we might as well check all the pipes,” Schelle said.
The duck is being loaned to the city at no cost, Schelle said.
The department is using sampling equipment on loan from Wittenberg University’s geology department. About $550 of additional sampling equipment was purchased by the department through the stormwater utility.
Pipes that are not stormwater pipes could be from old factories, Schelle said, but they will all be checked to make sure no illegal dumping is taking place. All pipes that dump into the creek must have a permit with the Ohio EPA. Only two pipes along the creek have such a permit.
Two interns, Dustin Mapel and Trevor Grandy, are using the duck to go the entire length of Buck Creek and find pipes along all the creek’s tributaries, Schelle said. The interns’ pay is also out of the stormwater utility.
Mapel and Grandy will only be out on the water if there has not been rain for 72 hours, Schelle said.
“If it hasn’t rained for three days, then there won’t be rainwater coming out of pipes,” Schelle said. “Any pipes that they stumble across that have liquid coming out of them, we have to assume it isn’t rainwater and must be something else.”
Schelle said because the city has never done a project like, there is no definite timetable for checking all the pipes, but he hopes to complete it within three to four weeks.
“The goal is to go from one end of Buck Creek to the other where it intersects with Mad River and all the tributaries,” Schelle said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0263 or bethany.bruner@coxinc.com.
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