Thinking of buying a home in Oldham County, Kentucky? Think twice.

By Terry Kibiloski, Editor, and Gina Kibiloski, Investigative Reporter, Computer Times

The sewage-polluted, bacteria-laden runoff and flood water may give you more than you expect, like E.coli bacteria, sewage from flooded septic tanks, erosion of your property, destroyed green space, toppling of giant sycamore and other hardwood trees, dead wildlife, and contaminated runoff water containing everything from solvents to toxic garbage that is washed right into your own backyard from residential and commercial sites upstream. It seems that Oldham County is much more interested in improving their commercial interests than in improving the lives and safety of their taxpaying citizens.

The photo on the left shows one of a pair of very mature sycamore trees that fell due to erosion caused by deliberate uncontrolled flooding in Oldham County, Kentucky. One resident told us that just two years ago he could walk around this stately pair of sycamores but now the uncontrolled flooding has doubled the size of the stream and is taking down the landscape with it. The photo at the right shows the intense flooding at one of many flooded Oldham County residences on May 2, 2010, leaving behind a wash of toxic waste and E.coli bacteria, as noted by an Oldham County official who wished to remain anonymous.

Even if you do not live in an area of Oldham County directly affected by the runoff and flood waters, be aware that some people who are infected with E.coli bacteria do not notice any symptoms. They may spread the bacteria to you, or your children at school, without even knowing it. While E.coli begins with severe stomach cramps and stomach tenderness, watery and often bloody diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, within 2 to 14 days after the onset of diarrhea, severe blood and kidney problems may occur, which can cause kidney failure and sometimes long-term disability or death in some children and older adults (http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/E.coli-infection-symptoms).

If you are not familiar with Oldham County, Kentucky, it is not some backward county in the poorest area of Kentucky, it is a highly educated, wealthy, prosperous county, a few miles northeast of Louisville, which is far behind the times in intelligently managing its sewage and flooding problems. Comparing Oldham County to the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the U.S. Census Bureau shows that Oldham County is over twice as wealthy (median 2008 household income, $84,884 vs. $41,489), nearly twice as educated (Bachelor’s degree or higher, 30.6% vs. 17.1%), and has nearly 2.5 times more persons per square mile, which is a 24.6% increase in population from April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2009. According to http://www.scorecard.org, the Pollution Information Site, Oldham County ranks as one of the worst counties in the U. S. for total off site transfers of major chemical releases or waste generation, one of the worst counties in the U. S. for clean water act rankings, and marginal for air releases of recognized developmental toxicants.

Speaking with Oldham County residents who are fed up with Oldham County’s inaction in fixing the uncontrolled flooding, some have taken out their chain saws and risked their own lives on wet, slippery log jams along waterways like the North Curry’s Fork. Others have simply let their homes go into foreclosure so they can escape this bacteria-polluted flood water nightmare. A quick look at the USA Today list of foreclosures for Oldham County in 2010 shows properties ranging from $39,900 to $416,900 (http://usatoday.foreclosure.com/search/KY_185.html ), reflecting the range of these reported voluntary foreclosures. Can Oldham County officials not see the disgust in its residents and the significance of a substantial decrease in property taxes by not taking aggressive actions to alleviate this flooding issue?

On September 24, 2009, ninety-one concerned citizens of Curry’s Fork gathered to discuss their concerns and goals for the watershed. A partnership was announced between the Oldham County Fiscal Court and the EPA and a grant to write a watershed plan to address water quality issues in the watershed. [Note: No mention of flood control.] The University of Louisville designed a stream restoration project for 3,700 feet of South Curry’s Fork. [Note: Still no mention of flood control.] The ninety-one concerned citizens voiced their major concerns as flooding, erosion, bacteria, development pressures, taxes, and fiscally responsible use of funds. In that same meeting, it was reported that the total budget to study Curry’s Fork and write a watershed plan and implement priority actions is $1.6 million dollars  (http://www.oldhamcounty.net/Curry_Fork/HandOuts/CurryForkRoundtableMeetingNotes.doc). One resident told us that “There is nothing you can do. We had a big meeting in September and nothing changed except more of the same – inaction and flooding.” Two days after our first meeting with this resident on April 30^th, he was proven right. Since photos are worth a thousand words, here are a few thousand pictorial words to help you visualize the uncontrolled flooding problem in Oldham County.

Photo below is a residence on Briar Ridge Road, in Oldham County, before the flooding.

Photos below are of the same residence on Briar Ridge Road when the flooding began, lasting  several hours (first noticed when residents awakened around 8 AM on Sunday, May 2, 2010).

 Photos below show the same residence as flood waters began to recede several hours later.

Witnessing the flooding and the bacteria-laden stench first-hand, we spoke with a resident who said that he was surprised the flood gates were not working, which he said were installed upstream. While investigating these “flood gates,” which are the size of outdoor movie theatre screens, we received the following reply back from our e-mail to the Oldham County Storm Water Manager. “The County Engineer informs me that there are no flood gates for North Curry’s Fork. She believes that there is confusion over the gates under I-71 that open naturally during a flood event [NOTE: bolding added for emphasis]. The purpose of the gates is to minimize the number deer and other animals that enter the natural area between the northbound and southbound lanes of I-71. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet controls the design and maintenance of those gates.” So much for the false hopes of Oldham County residents in thinking that something was being done to alleviate the flooding. It appears that deer are more important than residents in Oldham County. Does it not sound reasonable to have at least a dual purpose gate across the North Curry’s Fork that could protect the deer and minimize flooding?

Nearly a year earlier than the previously mentioned September 24, 2009 meeting of ninety-one concerned citizens of Curry’s Fork, it was obvious that Oldham County officials were aware of the problems. Minutes from a Curry’s Fork Technical Committee Meeting, held on October, 29, 2008, identified bacteria as one of the primary pollutants throughout the North Curry’s Fork watershed, identifying septic systems and treatment plants as the primary stressors in the watershed.  What the Curry’s Fork Technical Committee Meeting failed to note in its minutes is the extreme flash flooding that takes place along the North Curry’s Fork, and other forks of the watershed, something that could and should have been prevented to keep the bacteria out of the living areas of residents along this watershed. This flooding situation was noted in an even earlier meeting described below.  (http://www.oldhamcounty.net/Curry_Fork/Meetings/2008.10.29%20Curry's%20Fork%20Technical%20Meeting%20Minutes.pdf)

The Curry’s Fork Meeting Minutes for the January 30, 2008 meeting noted general comments from the floor:
Paul – “There are concerns about removing debris that cause local flooding.”
Gordon – “Flood plain maps show that half of my back yard is in the flood plain. But when it floods it is up to my back door. Flood maps don’t tell the entire story.”
Jeff – “Concerns with taking water from Ohio River and discharging into Curry’s Fork.”
Kurt – “USDA program for land owners to implement streamside buffer $ for 15 years participation. Program assists in planting native, deep root systems which increases volume able to store.”
Margi – “WHIP nonpoint could pay the rest of the money not provided by USDA.”
Jeff-“There are no large tract agricultural lands, it is now primarily 5 acre residential. Could this size land meet program requirements?

 Kurt- “ If residents combined to provide a linear corridor of land they would meet the requirements.”
(http://www.oldhamcounty.net/Curry_Fork/Meetings/2008.01.30%20Currys%20Fork%20Stakeholder%20Meeting%20Minutes.pdf) It is interesting to note that solutions included planting native deep root systems, not managing current flooding. The flood that we witnessed on May 2, 2010 temporarily increased the width of North Curry’s Fork by nearly ¼ mile with water running through residential neighborhoods at an alarming rate of speed. It appears that planting native deep root systems would have had little or no effect on this type of flooding. Instead, why not use at least some of the $1.6 million budgeted to study Curry’s Fork for some practical, quick fix measures like clearing log jams, dredging, digging containment ponds, and echoing flood reduction efforts successful in other communities. Fines could be stiff and swift for pollution violators. Partnerships could be formed with good corporate neighbors. The focus should be on reducing pollution and eliminating flooding. This would certainly help residents who are now risking life and limb to do what Oldham County is not doing to stop the unnecessary flooding.

On July  22, 2009, Tim Tyree, Oldham County Storm Water Manager, reported on the Oldham County the MS4 Storm Water Program, which serves Oldham County and its co-permittees the Cities of Crestwood, Goshen, Orchard Grass Hills and River Bluff. The Cities of LaGrange and Pewee Valley did not join as co-permittees and will be creating their own respective MS4 programs. Mr. Tyree’s presentation of the Oldham County’s MS4 Storm Water Program noted that it will focus on public education and outreach, public participation and involvement, illicit discharge detection and elimination, construction site runoff control, and pollution prevention (http://www.oldhamcounty.net/Curry_Fork/HandOuts/Curry's%20Fork%20-%20MS4%20Program%20Presentation.pdf). Why is it not addressing the flooding problem which erodes the soil, topples century old Sycamore trees, and brings the existing runoff bacteria right up to, and sometimes into, peoples’ homes?

Oldham County has been presented as a progressive community with fine businesses, (http://www.oldhamcountyebusiness.com/index.php/view/Ebusiness-Listings/catId/47/catName/Horses), that has deep roots to Kentucky’s horse racing industry (http://www.oldhamequinecouncil.org/), including realtors who specialize in horse property and equine homes (http://www.kyhorseproperties.com), and attracting visitors from across the nation to its rolling hills, scenic drives and picturesque views of the Ohio River (http://www.touroldhamcounty.com/whattodo.htm). Under this fine looking exterior we find a much different picture, one of seeming disregard for the health of both its human and equine residents, and visitors alike.

Like many counties along the Mason-Dixon line, Oldham County was an area of divided loyalties: an important corridor for slave trafficking as well as part of the Underground Railroad for slaves who chose to run away (http://www.touroldhamcounty.com/). It appears that Oldham County is still an area of divided loyalties: those citizens who are angry and mad and tired of paying property taxes to officials of Oldham County while their pleas for a sanitary and safe living environment are being ignored, and those who have run away and left their homes to foreclosure. So, if you are thinking of buying a home in Oldham County, Kentucky, or even just dropping in for a visit, you may want to think twice.

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