A fatal incident at the Ottawa County Regional Water Treatment Plant is the cause of a boil advisory for surrounding areas.
According to the Ottawa County EMA, an employee, later identified as Jeffrey Kukay, died after an incident at the facility.
The Ottawa County Sheriff's Office said deputies were called to the Ottawa County Water Treatment facility around 6:15 a.m. for a man who was face down in a tank filled with water.
The employee was the only person working at the time of the incident, according to the report.
Kukay was pronounced dead at the scene.
The report states that the man was wearing a safety harness attached to a safety line running down the middle of a ladder, and his feet were tucked behind the ladder's rungs.
The tank was drained in an effort to remove the man's body.
No foul play is suspected. The coroner's office told us that it has to outsource its autopsies, so it can take three to six months for results on the official cause of the man's death.
For Martene Parks, of Port Clinton, the news of the death was a shock.
"It's a small town. People know each other and they send their thoughts and prayers to the family," Parks said.
Port Clinton resident David Hills told us he was watering his lawn when he heard about the boil advisory and the employee's death.
"It's just one of those things, you know. I've lived over here for 50 years; it's the first time anything like that's happened," Hills said.
As a precaution, the following cities will be under a boil advisory until at least Thursday:
- Elmore
- Oak Harbor
- Port Clinton
- Marblehead
- Catawba
- Danbury
- Portage Township
- Erie Township
- Salem Township
- Bay Township
- Harris Township
At this time, there is no evidence of contamination in the water, but officials are issuing the advisory out of an abundance of caution. At home, residents should boil water for at least a minute; restaurants are required to boil water for three minutes. Some local restaurants are using paper plates, bottled drinks and Styrofoam cups.
