We received a letter from the agency last week that arrived too late for publication. The letter began: “Ohio EPA is inviting the Fayette community to attend an informational meeting.…”

The meeting was scheduled to provide an update on plans to clean up contamination at the former Fayette Tubular Products site and on the school grounds. However, the letter was mailed only to people who in the past signed up to receive notices. That’s not really an act of inviting the Fayette community.

An Ohio EPA spokesperson explained the situation this way: It’s not a formal meeting, as in a public hearing, so an official public notice was not made. That meeting will follow later once a plan of action is approved at Ohio EPA headquarters in Columbus.

The EPA representative suspects that public interest has waned as the new school nears completion. That assumption is probably correct. In fact, it may have been the case for the past couple of years. It’s been a long time since an Ohio EPA meeting attracted a large crowd.

It should still be of vital interest, though, because the Ohio EPA has hinted that the cleanup process could take two or three decades.

Many people seem to think there’s not much to be concerned about anymore,  and maybe that’s the case. But if that is true, why did DH Holdings—the company charged with cleaning up the contamination—insist that the school property lay dormant forever without any digging allowed? That’s something residents should be curious about.

It seems odd that neither village nor school officials were contacted before the meeting date was chosen, and it’s unfortunate that most of the community wasn’t notified.

In the end, the meeting was postponed due to concerns about the weather. When the new date is announced, we hope to be able to tell you about it—before it happens.