Response from Ohio Parks & Recreation

Though I haven't yet received any communication from the Ohio elected officials I contacted, I did get a response from Nick Hall of Parks & Recreation. That letter is pasted in below:


Hi Margaret,

It was a pleasure speaking with you on the phone last week and I
appreciate your patience while waiting for a response in order to give
us a chance to investigate this situation.

I have spoken with Mike Powers, Regional Manager at Burr Oak State Park
and also forwarded him the pictures you took while visiting Burr Oak.
Manager Powers visited the site shown in your pictures to determine what
actions would be needed to secure this area and make sure it is safe for
visitors.

The pipe in your pictures is a part of a storm drain system, not a sewer
system.  The pipe does empty storm waters from rainfall into the lake.
The amount of cigarette butts in the storm water is certainly
disturbing.  Steps will be taken to ensure proper receptacles are in
place for litter and the lodge General Manager will be notified of the
issue.

The hole in your pictures is a man hole that had the lid removed. A lid
had since been placed over the man hole when Manager Powers arrived at
the site and is no longer a  safety concern.  Contractors have been
working in the area, but there certainly is no reason for a cover to be
left off a hole creating the hazard you encountered without proper
safety signage and barriers in place.  At this time, it is uncertain
whether the contractors failed to replace the lid over the hole, or if
it had been displaced by a park visitor.

Park visitor safety and environmental protection are high priorities for
the Division of Parks and Recreation.  As stated during our phone
conversation, I certainly appreciate you taking the time to document and
forward your concerns to us for a response.

If you have further questions, please let me know.  Thanks!

Nick

Nick Hall
Concession Section Manager
Division of Parks & Recreation

Someone Is Draining Waste into the Lake Out of Burr Oak Lodge (and other problems)

I stayed at Burr Oak Lodge (run by Xantera Resorts) in Southern Ohio at the end of May. In addition to other cleanliness, trail, and service problems, I found two very dangerous-looking maintenance practices. Behind the lodge, which is where one is directed to go to find the trails, I saw two very problematic occurrences, of which I took pictures: 

1. The drain pipe coming out from under the lodge, positioned to run down the hill and into the lake.

(A) (Photos 1-4) The Lodge appears to be emitting something from a pipe, and that something is flowing down the hill into the lake. As you can see from these photos, whatever is being drained looks like waste, because it has cigarette butts in it!

2. Pipe: The pipe flow stream, a little farther down.

3. Pipe: The cigarette butts on the edges of the flow stream, obviously in this formation from the effects of the flow velocity of the liquid.

4. Pipe: The polluted drain waste flowing down into the lake. Note at the bottom left the flow stream, edges with cigarette butts as in the above photos. This is because this photo is simply a continuation of the same stream. As your eye moves down the hill, not the compressed grasses, the pathway the flow has made as it makes its way down to the lake. This indicated that at times the flow is strong, and it shows pretty conclusively that this pollution stream is making it down to the lake.

(B) (Photos 5, 6, & 7) There is a huge, deep hole in the walk-way, and there are no barriers, signs, or safety devices around it at all!

5. Hole: This big, deep hole is just sitting here in the middle of everything, totally open! What the uncovered, dangerous hole looks like as one walks up on it.

6. Hole: Another view of the uncovered hole.

7. Hole. It's deep! What if I, or a child, or anyone had fallen in to this?! What if it had been night and I hadn't seen it? I'm really worried someone is going to get hurt!

Burr Oak Lodge & Conference Center
Route 2, Box 159
Glouster, OH 45732-9536

Physical Address
10220 Burr Oak Lodge Road
Glouster, OH 45732