MOUNT VERNON — Where Hopewell Road crosses Big Run Creek in Pleasant Township, a small amount of dark manure runoff can be seen flowing into the creek; an odor is present, too. The runoff degrades water quality, but the amount present at this particular location is not an amount that will cause fish to die, according to Rob Clendening of the Knox Soil & Water Conservation District.
The manure runoff originates in the milkhouse on Joe Levengood’s dairy farm, which is located nearby on Jacobs Road. Levengood said his grandfather built the milkhouse on top of a spring, which then washes manure through a small ditch, through a field and eventually into the creek.
“It’s something that I couldn’t control because my grandpa build the milkhouse over [the spring],” said Levengood.
According to Levengood, the spring that runs through his milkhouse only runs when there is rain or moisture in the ground.
“[The spring] runs on and off,” said Levengood. “It dried up last year and [now] it’s running again whenever it’s raining.”
Clendening said that this situation is not uncommon when working with older dairy farms.
“Years ago, nobody thought anything about a milkhouse drain that went to the creek,” said Clendening.
Clendening said that when these problems are noticed or reported around the county, the KSWCD works with the property owners to remedy the situation, but the process can be lengthy.
Currently, said Clendening, there are two or three options available, and he is working with Levengood to resolve the situation. Clendening said he has been working with Levengood on this issue for nearly a year.
“The winter season wasn’t fit for any construction and then we had some new design options ... proposed to us here this winter ... and we wanted to give Joe [Levengood] the time to consider [those options],” said Clendening.
Because the runoff does degrade water quality over long periods of time, Clendening said the issue was one the KSWCD wanted to resolve.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has funding for certain types of improvements, and Clendening said Levengood’s situation would qualify for partial funding. According to Clendening, depending on the project, ODNR will fund from $5,000 to $15,000 of a project, or up to 75 percent of the project’s cost. Clendening said Knox County has made good use of the available funds in the past, but with budget cuts looming in the future, the money, and hence future projects, would slow down as well.
“We’ve got a lot less money to work with ... than what we used to have,” he said.
