|
In
1954, the Sanitation District No. 1 of Campbell and Kenton Counties
constructed a large sewage treatment plant in the City of Bromley on
Pike Street. From the time the plant was put into operation, the citizens
of Bromley bitterly complained about the odors coming from the site.
The situation became so tense, that on June 5, 1955, Judge Rodney G.
Bryson, placed an injunction on the Sanitation District to cease operating
the plant. The ruling directed that the plant could only reopen after
the installation of odor-reducing equipment. The plant remained closed
for over a year.
In order to place pressure on the Sanitation District, the Bromley City
Council refused to turn over their water meter records, thus, denying
the district of billing Bromley residents. By May 1956, the necessary
odor-reducing equipment had been installed at the plant. At this time
the injunction was lifted and the Sanitation District sent employees
to Bromley to read the water meters. When Bromley residents received
their bills, they were shocked. Residents felt the bills were excessively
high.
In June 1956, over 150 residents of Bromley met in the school building
to discuss the situation. At this meeting, the Bromley Citizens Committee
was established to represent the city in any future litigation with
the Sanitation District. The following eight residents were elected
to serve on the committee: Earl Ransom, Charles Bauer, Loraine Lambert,
Dorothy Jennings, Ruth Ziegler, Robert Elliott, Mike Cross and James
Callahan.
The new odor-reducing equipment installed at the plant in 1956 was not
effective. In the summer of 1957, the citizens of Bromley sought an
injunction on the plant. Little changed, and less than one year later,
the odors from the plant were again reaching unacceptable levels.
The relationship between the sanitation plant and the citizens of Bromley
remained tense for twenty-five years. To the great joy of Bromley, the
facility was closed in 1979 when the Dry Creek Treatment plant was completed
in northwestern Kenton County. In 1982, the facilities were transformed
into the International Catfish Ranch.
Kentucky Times-Star, June 6, 1956, p. 1; News Enterprise, July 18,
1957, p. 1 and March 30, 1958, p. 1.
|
