CAMBRIA - John Domino set a quart jar of water on the conference table Monday, and invited members of the Cambria Village Board to take a swig or two.

"No thanks," was the repeated, under-the-breath response from board members.

The water was pale beige-yellow, translucent but not quite transparent.

According to Domino, the water - drawn at 7:30 a.m. Saturday - was what the Didion ethanol plant discharged into Duck Creek.

Domino said he does not know if the water's quality is in violation of Didion's discharge permit with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

He said he does know, however, that it isn't what he said Didion officials had promised the discharged water would be - at least as clean as the area's groundwater, and fit to drink.

Domino - who in February resigned the village board seat that he'd held for three years, citing frustration with the village's dealings with Didion - said village officials should do what they can to ensure that the DNR is regularly monitoring the water discharged from the ethanol plant.

Didion began production of corn ethanol in April, in a plant that lies just across Cabbage Road from the village limits in the town of Courtland.

The village has an agreement with Didion that would allow the village to impose fines on the company if it ever is found to be in violation of air quality or water quality standards.

Because Didion's discharge permit is with the DNR and not the village, Cambria officials don't test the water that the plant discharges into the creek, said Village President Tim Perry.

Although the discharge point is the town of Courtland, Domino said his interest in the quality of the discharged water stems from his interest in the water quality of Tarrant Lake, the centerpiece of Cambria's main village park.

"This is one of the concerns I've had from the beginning - that no one would force Didion into compliance," Domino said.

Trustee Jeff Schumacher said a Cambria citizen called him last week to complain about the quality of water being discharged into the creek, and he went out to take a look.

"It was discolored coming from the pipe, and it had brownish algae, like you can get when you let your fish tank go too long," Schumacher said. "It was brown and it was pungent."

There was no sign of anything that looked like algae in the sample that Domino brought.

However, trustee Marty Stringfield opened the lid, then passed the jar around the table to allow everyone to sniff it.

"It smells like water," Stringfield said.

Perry said he discerned "an organic corn smell."

Trustee Nick McConochie remarked, "I expected nastier."

Schumacher said he had not heard any reports of Didion being out of compliance with its DNR water quality permit.

However, several trustees asked Domino for names of people in the DNR to contact about permit enforcement.

"There's no way I'm drinking that water," Schumacher said.

 

Another tumble-down building?

One month after calling for an inspection of a downtown building that used to be a grocery store, the Cambria Village Board wants a closer look at another long-abandoned business - this time a lumber yard on West Commerce Street that's been closed for 14 years.

Trustee Nick McConochie told the board Monday that he had received complaints from three people about the condition of "the old lumber yard with broken windows and doors."

There are no fewer than seven broken windows on the building that formerly housed Cambria Lumber, a business that Village President Tim Perry said was closed in October 1994.

Police Chief Rick Nelson said the building now mostly shelters animals, such as raccoons.

"The roof is totally shot," he said. "It's a wonder that it hasn't caved in."

Trustees voted unanimously to have a building inspector look at the structure and make recommendations for what to do with it to ensure safety.

Meanwhile, village officials are preparing to go to court to seek a building inspection, including a fire safety inspection, on the old Mike's Super Foods store on West Edgewater Street, which has been closed for 11 years.

City Clerk Lois Frank said the village's attorney is assembling evidence of repeated unsuccessful attempts to contact the owner of the vacant building to get access to the interior for inspection.

The building has been mentioned as one possible location for a new full-service grocery store.

 

ljerde@capitalnewspapers.com

745-3587