Employee who died at water plant identified

BAY TWP. — Authorities identified the employee who died at Ottawa County's water treatment plant on Monday. On Monday, a deputy from the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office was dispatched to the facility located at 1405 W. Fremont Road, just west of Port Clinton, for an employee who was found dead on the deputy's arrival, according to an Ottawa County Sheriff's Office report. When the deputy arrived on the scene, the employee, a man later identified as Jeffrey Kukay, was found "floating face down in a tank filled with water," the report states. The deputy was advised that Kukay was scheduled to work from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. at the facility overnight by himself. Kukay was reportedly found around 6:15 a.m. and was seen wearing a safety harness attached to a safety line, which ran down the middle of a ladder. No bleeding or signs of foul play were observed, the report states. The cause of Kukay's death was not immediately clear. The Ottawa County Emergency Management Agency, in conjunction with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, on Monday placed all residents using the facility's water under a boil advisory and "to boil all drinking and cooking water for a minimum of one minute until further notice, according to a news release on Monday. The affected areas, which remained under a boil advisory as of Tuesday evening, are: • Village of Elmore • Village of Oak Harbor • City of Port Clinton • Village of Marblehead • Catawba Island Township • Danbury Township • Portage Township • Erie Township • Salem Township • Bay Township • Harris Township The Ottawa County EMA made bottled water available to county residents on Tuesday. Plant conducting tests Zachary Mulder, sanitary engineer for the Ottawa County Sanitary Engineering Department, said that there have been no reductions in operations or functionality at the water treatment plant as a result of this incident. "There is currently no evidence of water contamination," Mulder said. "All advisories and testing are being conducted strictly as precautionary measures." He said the incident occurred in a section of the water treatment plant "prior to the final filtration and disinfection process" of the water treated at the facility. Mulder explained more about how the plant will conduct testing following the incident. "Following system flushing, multiple water samples are collected and incubated for a minimum of 24 hours before total coliform (bacteria) testing is performed," he said. "If all results are negative for bacteria, the boil advisory will be lifted. The advisory will be lifted in phases as testing is completed and cleared in each area." Mulder said that all boil advisories are expected to be lifted by late evening this Thursday. The Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation is conducting an investigation into the incident, Mulder said. "Their investigation will focus on workplace safety protocols and will include employee interviews and a review of operational procedures at the facility," he said.