Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Wastewater treatment facilities operate under the federal Clean Water Act and are permitted under each state's department of environmental management.
Former Class IV operator David Van Dyke faces federal criminal charges for falsification of records and illegally dumping diesel oil at the Warsaw plant in violation of U.S. law. The polluted outflow damaged Walnut Creek, a tributary of the Tippecanoe River.
The city of Warsaw faces civil charges from an Indiana Department of Environmental Management notice of violations, received in October. Operations at the plant have since been under the direction of Jones & Henry Engineers consultants for the past three months.
Since October, operations have been within the permit. Equipment is being upgraded as noted in the violations and recommended by consultants. The laboratory is being upgraded.
The city is charged with cleanup of Walnut Creek, according to Warsaw Mayor Ernie Wiggins. The amount of remediation necessary is a point of contention between the state environmental department and Triad Engineers, hired by the city to assess the situation.
"Triad has come up with a much different amount of sludge in the creek than IDEM is reporting is there," said Wiggins Friday. "We are to get together with IDEM for this negotiation. We want to begin cleanup as quickly as possible, once we agree on the work."
Walnut Creek flows north to the Tippecanoe River, about 1-1/2 miles away. The treatment plant, in Boggs Industrial Park, 729 W. Center St., processes about 3.5 million gallons of sewage a day.
The "spill" into Walnut Creek occurred between May and September 2002, according to the IDEM report and federal Environmental Protection Agency estimates.
In addition to city attorney Mike Valentine, the city is represented by the Indianapolis firm of Pleus & Shadley Racher & Braun.
