SLUDGE VICTIMS

AKRON BEACON JOURNAL

FAMILIES SAY SLUDGE- HAS HURT. - HEALTH, LIFE

OHIOANS BLAME EPA-APPROVED RECLAMATION SITE FOR SICKNESS, SMELL, BAD WATER. COUPLES SUING COMPANY

BY BOB DOWNING, Beacon Journal staff writer Illustration: PHOTO: click here Color/MIKE CARDEW/Beacon Journal ... Caption: Kathy and Bob Hunt in front of their home, where tests show high levels of fecal coliform bacteria in their well water. They blame sludge--covered fields bordering their land for that, and for a terrible smell.

MAP: Shows location of sludgesite/BeaconJournal:

The plan to ship New Jersey sewage sludge to Ohio frightens Patti Baker to death.

The Columbiana County woman, her husband, and another family say they have been victimized by sewage sludge shipped from New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania by the same company involved in the latest proposal. The sludge, they say, polluted drinking water, affected their health and resulted in an offensive stench for two years.

The two couples have filed a $9.8 million lawsuit against the companies involved in dumping that sludge on a nearby mine reclamation site from 1992 to 1994 and against neighbors who allowed sludge to be spread on their land. The suit is pending in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court in Lisbon, south of Youngstown.

In court papers, the companies deny any responsibility for the problems cited by Baker, her husband, Wilson, and neighbors Kathy and Bob Hunt.

Wheelabrator Water Technologies Inc. -- now the parent company of Bio Gro Inc., the company involved in the sludge hauling -- declined comment, citing litigation, said spokesman John Goodwin.

"It's been a nightmare," said Patti Baker, 42. "They've taken away my life.