SAVING OUR COMMUNITY WELLS
My name is Susan and I was born in Brooklyn, New York.
When I was 21 years old I married my husband of 50 years. He was in the Air Force and so eventually he was assigned to WPAFB. We decided to settle here, in Enon, and built our home on 5-acres in 1977.
That first spring we planted grass seed around the house and we watered the seed to help it germinate. One day I watered the newly seeded lawn areas for hours. Once inside the house I went to fill up a glass with water at the kitchen sink. There was NO water, just air and sand. I was shocked and it was a powerful lesson for a city girl. Wells can run dry if you draw too much water. In my panic, I realized that if we had no water, our new home was worthless. Who would purchase a home without a source of water? Lesson learned. I never overdrew the well water again! Never in the forty years that we have lived in this home!
So now I’m more than concerned. I am exceedingly concerned about a corporation that would come into our community and intentionally lower the water table that I draw my water from. As a new homeowner I took action to protect my well water supply. I believe that all citizens and corporations should act on principle and not profit; to protect all the individuals who have invested in this community, which is now our hometown.
Enon Sand & Gravel has estimated that they will draw 720,000 gallons of water per day from their mining site and dump it into Mud Run.
The people in Cape Town, South Africa may soon be running out of drinking water due to a severe drought. Common sense dictates that all people must protect natural resources. In this situation the resource is water. And make no mistake, WATER IS LIFE. Water is life to people, to animals and life to any community. Why would anyone intentionally waste water?
What guarantee do citizens have that their water would remain pure? Can you assure this community that mining explosions would not taint our drinking water? If tainted, what recourse do we have? Must we move away from our “now worthless” properties? Flint Michigan has been in the news for years. The water laden with lead has forever harmed their children.
We are not panicking. We are being realistic. We ask this mining corporation to be realistic as well.
We are asking the Ohio EPA to deny Enon Sand & Gravel’s NPDES permit application.
In conclusion, No Corporation should have the power to re-purpose our Mud Run into a conduit for wastewater and the dewatering of our aquifer.
With thanks for your attention,
Susan Kogler
5076 W. Jackson Road
Enon, OH 45323