At a meeting of the Mahoning County commissioners on June 1, the A.P. O’Horo Co. was awarded a contract worth a little over $2.6 million to make improvements to the Boardman Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is providing a loan to the county to make the necessary upgrades. The improvements will enable Boardman’s plant to deal with the additional sewage flow directed its way when the New Middletown treatment plant goes off line in late 2018.
The New Middletown plant has been ordered closed by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. The agency had determined that the plant has been discharging too much effluent into Honey Creek to maintain water-quality standards.
In addition to the money to upgrade the Boardman plant, money will be spent to convert the New Middletown treatment plant to a pumping station and building a new pumping station at Five Points. A pipe to carry sewage normally handled by New Middletown to Boardman will also be laid.
The commissioners also approved Rodney Thorn to fill a newly created position in the sanitary engineer’s office. Future business card printing will list Thorn’s title as field operation specialist. Starting June 30, at an annual salary of $52,000, Thorn will keep the county’s emergency electric generators ready to ensure the continuation of waste pumping and treatment in the event of a power outage.
