Report: City runoff harmful

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WILMINGTON — The City of Wilmington was given a warning about stormwater runoff affecting local water.

Dr. Audrey McGowin, from the Chemistry Department at Wright State University, presented a report to Wilmington City Council during Thursday night’s meeting — their summary of an investigation conducted between May and June of 2016 which looked into potential pollutant sources “causing lack of biodiversity” in Lytle Creek and Indian Run.

The study was conducted with Amira Alsenbel, M.S., also from Wright State. Those two also worked with Wilmington Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent Harry McVey, former Parks and Rec Director Lori Williams, and Clinton County Regional Planning Executive Director Taylor Stuckert.

A part of the reason the study was conducted was because there was apparently a lack of invertebrates in the two water sources. McGowin said there were several possibilities, including repeated stormwater runoff or discharges containing substances causing invertebrates to be unable to reestablish healthy populations,

In the report, they detailed all the tests conducted including a water quality analysis, Escherichia coli, a metal analysis test, and the results of looking into an incident where dead fish were discovered in a tributary to Lytle Creek.

McGowin’s report ended with recommended precautions for citizens to take — the main being that locals should avoid playing in the water at the areas because the results of the runoff have created “a hazardous situation for children who play in the downtown tributary.”

Safety/Service Director Brian Shidaker stated they’ve been working on updating their stormwater management plan since December 2016 with engineers. Taylor Stuckert said that they would release a statement with more details for the public.

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By John Hamilton

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