Taking steps in the right direction

Finally.
After kicking the can down the road for years, Redkey is taking clear steps toward addressing its problems with combined sewer overflows.
This is not going to be easy.
And it’s not going to be cheap.
But — as small communities all over America are learning — it’s going to have to be done.
Most of the small towns in the Midwest have sewer systems which — at least in part — use the same pipes to carry both sanitary sewage and storm water.
At the time the sewer lines were installed, it was the best solution available.
It was certainly the most cost-effective.
Trouble is, when there’s heavy rain the system is overloaded and the mix of rainwater and untreated sewage overflows and makes its way into nearby streams and ditches.
In other words, it’s a fundamental public health problem.
That’s why the Indiana Department of Environmental Management has been pressing towns like Redkey and Portland and dozens of others to clean up their act.
Redkey has been under an agreed order with IDEM to address the problem for years.
But instead of moving forward, the town has dragged its feet.
Too often the town council has behaved as if the issue would go away if it were ignored long enough.
Now that has changed.
The current town council has hired Commonwealth Engi-neering to start working on plans to solve the problem and satisfy IDEM. There really are no other options; Redkey faces stiff fines if it doesn’t get to work.
Leaders of the council and a new community organization focusing on the problem understand that. It’s good to see them moving in the right direction. — J.R.[[In-content Ad]]