BREAKING NEWS: EPA to Mayor Murray-"You are BUSTED!"

Apparently the mayor's critics are correct. The following is a portion of an e-mail sent directly to members of Portsmouth City Council yesterday from the Ohio EPA. The EPA official indicates the mayor is not being responsive to the EPA's complaints and is hiding information from City Council and the public. So the EPA official is forced to contact City Council directly. Here is what he said: "I just spoke with Ernie Stickler, who Mayor Murray stated would be Portsmouth's operator of record for the WWTP. He stated that his company has come to an agreement with the Mayor for him to be at the plant 10 hours per week and another employee, Merrill Clay, a Class II operator, to act as operator of record for the remaining 30 hours/week." "As we discussed earlier, Portsmouth operates a Class IV wastewater treatment facility, which must be under the direction of a Class IV operator 40 hours and 5 days/week. The scenario apparently proposed by Mayor Murray does not fulfill this obligation." "Since the Lawson Run facility does not have a Class III operator on staff to act as a temporary operator (for up to 30-days), Portsmouth must have a Class IV operator for the full 40 hours/week. I am bringing this to your attention because compliance with State of Ohio operator requirements ultimately falls on the shoulders of Mayor and Council. I have been working almost exclusively with Mayor Murray... up until this point. It is important that Mayor AND Council find a Class IV wastewater operator to run the Lawson Run WWTP as soon as possible. It appears at this point, Portsmouth is actually in violation of one or more operator requirements." A few important points should be noted from the EPA communication: 1. At Monday's council meeting Mayor Murray castigated and threatened members of council for going "around her" to contact Ohio EPA. She said it was a violation of the City Charter-showing that she has no understanding of the charter. This e-mail holds the "Mayor AND Council" responsible for plant violations. Council now has no choice but to deal with EPA directly for Murray's screw-ups. 2. Murray's so-called contingency plan, that she has claimed existed for a week now is just a figment of her imagination. "The scenario apparently proposed by Mayor Murray does not fulfill this obligation." 3. Mr. Peck, the new engineer, has absolutely no qualifications to run a water or sewer plant. They are trying to have a Class 2 person do a job that is legally required to be done by a Class 4 person. 4. Murray statements at the Monday Council meeting were lies. WE ARE ALSO AWARE THAT OHIO EPA HAS SENT THIS INFORMATION DIRECTLY TO THE PORTSMOUTH DAILY TIMES AND WSAZ IN RESPONSE TO THEIR REPEATED CALLS TO THE EPA OFFICE! (MORE AS THIS STORY DEVELOPS.)