Ohio state senator Jay Hottinger visits McWane Ductile Ohio

March 27, 2017

Ohio state senator Jay Hottinger visited McWane Ductile in Coshocton, Ohio, on March 24. Senator Hottinger, who represents Coshocton in the Ohio legislature, is a strong supporter of McWane Ductile. He opposes legislation being considered that will force municipal planners and engineers to give preference to certain pipe materials, regardless if they’re up to the job or not. Right now, there is nothing in Ohio state law that prevents engineers and their communities from selecting the pipe materials that will work best for them. Legislation being pushed by special interests would reduce the choice to one overriding factor: cost. Replacing pipe systems is expensive and cities, towns and counties are operating with limited budgets, and while costs must be considered, officials have to be able to consider all the costs, namely, that cheaper pipes tend to deteriorate and fail sooner than others. This effort to force engineers to make critical decisions using limited options is not happening just in Ohio, but across the country. Special interests have been behind legislation in several other states, including Indiana, Michigan, Oklahoma, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, where they seek to deny engineers and other professionals at public utilities from considering the specific needs of their communities when selecting materials for water, wastewater and storm-drainage projects.