Carroll Commencement
Fairborn commencement
Badin graduation
Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2009 > November > 20 > Entry
Editorial: Clearcreek Twp. firms should foot water tower bill
Warren County has a serious public safety concern when it comes to a fuel terminal in Clearcreek Twp. — one that the 10 companies doing business there have a responsibility to address.
Everyone would benefit if a water tower big enough to douse a major fire at the terminal is constructed. Negotiating a deal about who pays would prevent a legal fight, which would be costly. In any agreement, though, the companies must pay the most for a project that primarily protects their interests.
The water tower idea grew out of a concern raised three years ago by now-retired Clearcreek Fire Chief Bernie Becker. He felt his crews did not have the resources to contain a serious fire at the terminal.
Underground tanks and pipelines contain up to 85 million gallons of gasoline, diesel, kerosene, ethanol, propane and natural gas at any given time there.
The new chief, Tom Morrison, also believes the current water system could not provide enough water to the site, should something catastrophic happen.
Since Mr. Becker started this discussion, the companies and Warren County and township officials have proposed four options to increase water supply — a water tower, a ground-level water tank, a reservoir or a water line extension. The easy favorite was a water tower, with an eventual price tag of $4.8 million.
The tower is not needed either for the county water system or for general fire protection, only if a serious fire occurs at the terminal. It would be financed by bonds and the cost assessed to the 10 companies based on several factors. Their costs would range from $95,000 up to $1.9 million each. The companies all had an opportunity to review the assessment method.
But now a majority of the businesses — seven of the 10 — are balking at the cost and want to scuttle the plan. On Tuesday, Nov. 17, the Warren County Commission decided to hold off on a decision, ordering more public meetings.
The companies cannot be allowed to shift the burden for protecting their interests to taxpayers. Their arguments against building and paying for the water tower are not persuasive.
Their attorneys have said each company has the capacity on its own site to contain any fire. Hogwash. The combined disaster plans of each business do not add up to a coherent plan to protect the public if more than one becomes involved in a serious fire. Plus, each of those plans depends to some extent on the fire department.
The companies also argue that the wider community will benefit from the water tower and, therefore, should help pay for it. This is, to put it mildly, a stretch. Everyone could get by just fine without the tower but for the danger of the terminal going up in flames.
County Commissioner Michael Kilburn said he found the argument compelling that water would not even be the best option to douse flames at some facilities, especially the gas companies. He shouldn’t be swayed by that view.
Even if a particular fire shouldn’t be extinguished by water, there is still a need to wet down roads, buildings and other structures nearby to keep the disaster from spreading. And the foam used to douse some fuel fires must be mixed with lots of water.
A water tower is needed to protect the companies themselves. An inferno would threaten everything around it. The companies should foot the bill.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Editorials, Law Enforcement and Public Safety, Scott Elliott, Suburban Communities
Comments
By Karl
November 21, 2009 11:55 AM | Link to this
hard to understand this opinion. If those company’s weren’t there the city would be happy to spent such money to bring them. If taxed for the tower and they leave, there will be hell to pay