October 19, 2000
In an exclusive interview Wednesday, the Director of the Huntington Sanitary Board said that the Inwood-Shockey Program wasn't a well thought out plan.
"It was a stupid idea," Trocin said. "That project is the reason I'm here today. It all started before I got here. I blame it on Chester (Engineering). I hold them accountable."
The problems with the Inwood-Shockey project revolve around Grinder systems, sewer systems that act much like trash compactors in the kitchen sink, that literally grind up waste and shoot it through a narrow line into another system.
"That area should have had a gravity system," Trocin said. "It's on a hill. They decided that if they built the gravity system through the hills, the hills could collapse. Well, they could, but not if the lines are done with care. We do that kind of thing every day."
Trocin went on to say that it was all a bad idea.
"It was ill conceived by the Sanitary Board and the engineers," Trocin said. "It was a bad idea, sold to the Sanitary Board. They should have been smarter than that."
Trocin also said that the Board spend a lot of time and money fixing the nearly 100 grinders in that area.
"There are about 100 grinders up there," Trocin said. "They're a lot of trouble. I can only imagine what Lawrence County in Ohio is like. They have 1100 over there. There's 900 in Wayne. We're being called for problems for our grinders all the time."
When asked why they don't change the system to a gravity-based system, Trocin said it would cost $5- to $6 million.
"There were about 31 lawsuits pending when I took over," Trocin said. "Now there's been about 89."
Trocin still blames Chester Engineering.
"Chester is basically responsible for it," Trocin said. "As this continues, I'm still trying to get them to take responsibility. Someday I'll get them."
Among other things, Trocin also talked about Enslow Park, the sewer system for the Superblock, and changing over all the sewers in the city.
"Enslow Park will always be a problem," Trocin said. "I feel very badly for those people that live there. The houses are built on a 10-year flood plain, not a 100-year flood plain, but a 10-year flood plain. It's always going to flood. The tributaries get filled up and there are no ponds to retain the water in the water shed. It was a bad place to build houses."
Trocin said the Business and Technology Park wouldn't affect the Enslow Park neighborhood very much.
"It's still going to flood there because it's a 10-year flood plain," Trocin said. "But I don't think it will flood more."
Trocin said that there were sewer problems in the city because 78% of the sewer system in Huntington was combined and 22% were storm systems. He said it would cost over $300 million and take 20 years to fix the problems with the sewers dumping into the river and the streets when it rains.
The Superblock, however, should be in good shape for the new businesses it could have move in in the next few years, assuming the developers follow through.
"We have the most modern sewer plant between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh," Trocin said. "There's a massive storm sewer in that area (the Superblock). It's more than adequate for that area. It runs right down main street. It will be simple for those new buildings to run lines into it."
Huntington's citizens may be in store for yet another sewer increase, though, according to Trocin.
"If we can't find grant-type funding for the mechanisms with the Rt. 10 project, there will more than likely be a rate increase," Trocin said. "I don't like to avoid reality."
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T. Michael Murdock, HNN News Editor