Dear Editor,

This is in response to The Times Leader article published on August 19th about the Mayor’s response regarding radium and water testing.

The mayor stated that lies have been told about the Austin Masters situation.

Our group, Concerned Ohio River Residents, has not told any lies regarding this situation.

In fact, we brought in experts to our meeting (Aug. 19), including Dr. Julie Weatherington-Rice, who is an Ohio groundwater expert. She has been working in the fields of air, soil and water protection for more than 50 years, and is with Bennett & Williams Environmental Consultants Inc., where she is the senior scientist in the public water supply division.

Her special research is tracking contamination that moves from the surface to groundwater resources.

She stated the city does not have a source water management plan and that the EPA maps show Austin Master on top of the aquifer that feeds the drinking water wells. She believes it is just a matter of time before the aquifer becomes contaminated because of Austin Master.

The mayor was invited to talk with her and other experts we had at the meeting and the invitation is there for city officials to work with her moving forward since the testing being done is not adequate to protect the water.

Also to note, the EPA stated in an email to us that radium is tested every 6 years, not every 3.

The mayor also wonders why we are looking at this facility now, after they’ve already been here for almost 6 years.

Not one resident that we’ve spoken to has heard about this facility.

They’ve been operating in the dark for that long.

Through a public records request, we were able to obtain inspection reports from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and were shocked at the conditions inside, so we decided to share it with the public.

Bev Reed

Concerned Ohio

River Residents

Bridgeport