“The (old) trapshoot ground (last used in 2005 after which the ATA moved to Illinois) has a lot of lines that connected to those old motor homes people parked there,” Anderson said. “They’d connect their motor homes to the sewer system.
“When the ATA left, those lines were never properly closed, and water from the airport got into those lines. That was a large part of the water problem,” he said.
Vandalia would like to shut those old lines down, but can’t because it would cut service to a nearby business.
“We can’t shut it down, so we’re trying to work around that and get the business another connection,” Anderson said. “That will solve a large part of the water problem.”
“It’s not an easy fix. There’s not enough pipe in the area. We’ll do that this year. It’s a project we should be doing. We’re going to do the project once we figure out the best way to do it,” Anderson said.
Several residents in the area — mainly the ones who live on Koch Avenue, which runs a little downhill from the airport — have complained for years about water and raw sewage entering their homes.
The EPA issued a court order more than three years ago for Vandalia to take care of the problem or face fines of up to more than $177,500. The city has not been fined because it has shown a willingness to resolve the problem, an EPA spokesman said Wednesday.
Shannon Christy is one resident who has reported problems in his basement.
“I had a professional plumber come out who put in a backflow preventer and sealed all the pipes,” said Christy, who lives with his wife and two small children in the 500 block of Koch. “Last year we had a heavy rain, and it blew right through that.
“We bought this place in 1999 and we’ve had sewage come out of our basement toilet at least 10 times,” he said.
Eventually, Christy said he had to take up the carpet in the basement and have a contractor remove the bottom foot of drywall around the entire basement, finished in homage to Ohio State football, the Reds and Bengals.
Others who live on the street say they have also been unhappy with the situation, but at least the city says a fix is on the way.
Still, Anderson is hesitant to tell residents Vandalia’s plans until they are firm.
“We want to make sure we have our plan in place,” Anderson said. “Everybody is keenly aware of it.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2157 or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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