ORIENT, Ohio — Ohio environmental regulators have issued a final warning to the Whispering Pines Mobile Home Park public water system in Pickaway County, escalating a years‑long pattern of compliance failures after the system skipped required total coliform testing during the July 2025 monitoring window, according to a Dec. 18 Ohio EPA letter.
The warning, sent to the property owner, notes the system had already been cited once for the missed July sampling. This latest action places Whispering Pines, located at 10117 US 62 in Orient, under the state’s administrative penalty program for repeated total coliform and nitrate monitoring violations — a step Ohio EPA typically reserves for systems that have burned through earlier chances.
Regulators made the stakes explicit: any future monitoring lapses for either total coliform or nitrate could trigger enforcement orders carrying $150‑plus penalties per violation. The agency said missing tests for “acute contaminants” leaves residents in the dark about the safety of the water they drink, and urged the system to consider hiring a certified sampling contractor to prevent further failures.
The Dec. 18 warning is only the newest entry in a long compliance trail tied to PWS ID OH6500712, a system that has struggled for decades to meet basic public‑health requirements.
Just two months earlier, on Oct. 21, 2025, Ohio EPA issued a warning that Whispering Pines failed to notify residents about service line materials that are known or suspected to contain lead, a federal requirement the agency said it had already reminded the system about. Under the revised federal Lead and Copper Rule, community systems with lead, “galvanized requiring replacement,” or unknown service lines must notify affected customers within 30 days of submitting their initial inventory and must certify that notification to Ohio EPA by July 1, 2025. U.S. EPA considers missed notifications a federal reporting violation, triggering mandatory public notice. The Ohio EPA enclosed the required notice and ordered the system to distribute it.
Earlier still, an April 1, 2025, notice of violation documented a separate issue: elevated fluoride. A sample collected on May 12, 2022, measured 2.25 mg/L, exceeding Ohio’s secondary maximum contaminant level of 2.0 mg/L. The agency ordered Whispering Pines to issue public notice “as soon as practical” — and no later than one year from the letter — and to repeat that notice annually for as long as the system exceeds the secondary standard. The included language warns that children under 9 who drink water above 2 mg/L of fluoride may develop dental fluorosis and recommends alternative water sources for young children. The Ohio EPA did not require increased fluoride sampling, leaving the system on its once‑every‑three‑years schedule.
According to its 2024 consumer confidence report, Whispering Pines operates as a small groundwater system drawing from two wells, disinfecting with sodium hypochlorite, and serving roughly 40 people through 30 service connections. The report notes the aquifer has “moderate susceptibility” to contamination due to limited protective soil cover and nearby potential contaminant sources.
Ohio EPA records show the system’s compliance problems stretch back decades. A 2004 director’s order — issued when the park operated under the name Dot‑Mar Mobile Home Park — required the same Orient‑based system to meet total coliform monitoring rules and maintain an emergency drinking‑water contingency plan. The agency’s public document index lists multiple inspections and violations from 2022 through 2025, underscoring a persistent pattern of missed deadlines and regulatory friction.