Kelly Lecker Report

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=82 BGCOLOR="#111111" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#33CCFF" FACE="Comic Sans MS" ><B>Seven  Creeks  Roadside  Spring Water</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Seven Creeks Roadside Spring Water"><B>home</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id595.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="To Governor"><B><IMG SRC="0720e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="up" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A><B>  </B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="14"><B>    </B><A HREF="id727.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Matz Malones Investigative Report "><B><IMG SRC="0710e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="previous" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A><B>  </B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="14"></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#111111" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> We want to thank Kelly for traveling to our spring and telling our story.</div> <div> Two corrections. </div> <div> First, although bottling the water is expensive as stated, that wasn't the only reason not to bottle it. In order to bottle the water ozone is added  to disenfect the inside of the bottles. This would not only change the taste of our water because the ozone would remove some of the minerals, but possibly add harmful disenfection byproducts. You see the ozone can react with minerals which may not be be toxic and not regulated which are found in drinking water yet form toxic disinfection byproducts, like bromine forming bromide, which is a suspected carcinogen (We checked our water and it has no bromine). This raises a question. How does the ozone react with other approved minerals or chemicals? Until there is more research, or alternative methods to bottle water not using ozone are approved, we are hesitant  to bottle our water, regardless of the bottling cost.  This is discussed elsewhere on our web site.</div> <bR> <div> Second. The rticle implied that the Ohio EPA questioned our waters safety. We were surprised since the disinfection process we use is the same process that was approved for the bottle water license we had for six years before we were transferred to the Ohio EPA and the same process used for bottled water, except we use no ozone to disinfect the bottle. If there is a question with the safety of our water then there should also be a question with the safety of all of the Ohio bottled spring water, which is considered to be surface water.</div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=398 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#111111" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <I>Kelly Lecker Report  </I></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Water fight</div> <div>  Seven Creeks spring delivers unmatched taste, customers say, but EPA questions its safety</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div>   Reprinted from THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Wednesday, September 14, 2005 Kelly Lecker</div> <bR> <div>  STEUBENVILLE, Ohio - Jay Minges and his wife drive 12 miles just to fetch water for their morning coffee. Every two weeks, the couple from Florence, Pa., fill seven, one-gallon containers with spring water from a tiny, pointed, red wooden hut along a gravel road west of Steubenville in eastern Ohio. They swear it's the only water that won't clog their coffee filter. "We just want good, fresh, clean water," Minges said. "That's why we come here." Others who come to the Seven Creeks kiosk feel the same way.</div> <bR> <div>  Tony Galownia and his sons have been selling their spring water since 1997. It's the same water that's been piped into the Galownia homestead since the 1960s. The family and customers, who come from all over Ohio and parts of Pennsylvania, say the Seven Creeks water is clean and refreshing - and tastes better than municipal water.</div> <bR> <div>  The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency doesn't dispute the water's taste. It's the safety of the drink that caught the agency's attention. Regulators ordered the Galownias to disinfect the water. That means either drilling a well or adding chlorine - proposals that leave a sour taste in devotees' mouths.</div> <bR> <div>  Both would take the "natural" out of the product's billing, which could hurt the small business, Tom Galownia said. "It distorts the taste of the water. That is not why people buy this water." When the family started the business, customers - the Galownias refused to say how many - put coins in a vending machine that would start the water flowing from the spigot. But last year, the Jefferson County Health Department, which regulates vending operations, informed the family of an opinion from the state Health Department that recommended revoking the license. To get around the issue, the Galownias disconnected the vending machine. They trust customers to deposit 50 cents a gallon in a metal box.</div> <bR> <div>  First, would-be customers have to find Seven Creeks.</div> <bR> <div>  The kiosk sits a half-mile down a gravel road. Signs point the way from Rt. 22, about 115 miles east of Columbus. The Galownias don't advertise their business but get plenty of customers by word-of-mouth. A disposable camera and a log book left at the wooden hut allows visitors to comment.</div> <bR> <div>  It's a small operation, but environmental regulators say it's akin to a public water system that uses surface water and has more than 25 customers. That puts Seven Creeks in the company of the Columbus water system.</div> <bR> <div>  Mike Moschell, an inspector with the EPA's Division of Drinking and Groundwater, said the regulations are intended to protect the public. "Basically, it's a problem where we don't know the water is being disinfected well enough for surface water treatment," he said. "I cannot ensure the customers drinking that water that it meets the safety requirements of our rules."</div> <bR> <div>  The Galownias have appealed the EPA's decision, contending that what they are selling is not surface water, but water piped right from the spring. They say they test regularly for coliform and the water is free of the bacteria. Ultraviolet light disinfects the water.</div> <bR> <div>  Moschell conceded that this is a unique situation. The EPA does not regulate roadside pipes around rural Ohio where people collect spring water free.</div> <bR> <div>  Likewise, the Galownias would be free from EPA regulation if they bottled the water. Then, they could get a license from the Ohio Department of Agriculture.</div> <bR> <div>  That was the family's initial intention, but the Agriculture Department transferred jurisdiction to the EPA after the Galownias determined that bottling was too expensive.</div> <bR> <div>  Jim Galownia said the family won't make a fortune selling the water. But, he said, they had planned to expand and considered bottling the water before all the problems with regulators.</div> <bR> <div>  "We love this water. We love the kiosk, love doing this."</div> <bR> <div>  Said his brother, Tom, "We hoped we could sell the water and make a little money. Is there anything wrong with that?"</div> <bR> <div>  <B>klecker@dispatch.com </B></div> <bR> <div> Copyright © 2005, The Columbus Dispatch</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>