Environmental Health Division investigates health problems and environmental public health hazards, and enforces public health laws to protect the community.

Below you will find a list of our programs and services that give both a brief overview and an opportunity to obtain further information including useful links, information, and downloadable forms.

Programs & Services

Air Quality

The Regional Air Pollution Control Agency (RAPCA) has been monitoring ambient air pollution in the Miami Valley since the 1970’s. The primary pollutants RAPCA monitors include ground-level ozone (O3) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5), as these pollutants affect human health within a few hours to a few days. RAPCA provides a daily Air Quality Index (AQI) report to
indicate how clean (healthy) or polluted (unhealthy) our air quality is, using the Air Quality Index scale. However, when the air quality is unhealthy, RAPCA, in conjunction with MVRPC, issues an Air Pollution Advisory. This means that residents of the area may be experiencing breathing difficulties especially vulnerable groups like children, the elderly and people with respiratory diseases and should reduce their time spent outdoors.

The data from these monitors is used to calculate the Air Quality Index (AQI).  The AQI uses a simple color coded system (Green, Yellow, Orange and Red) to report daily air quality and focuses on health effects you may experience within a few hours or days after breathing polluted air.  RAPCA’s air quality data is also used to determine whether our air meets U.S. EPA’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).

Additional information or questions regarding Air Pollution visit https://www.rapca.org/contact

Regional Air Pollution Control Agency Office

Reibold Bldg
117 S Main St
Dayton, OH 45422

Office Hours 8am – 4:00pm, Mon – Fri

Main: (937) 225-4435
Toll Free Number: (800) 458-2115
Main Fax: (937) 225-3486
AirLine: (937) 223-3222

Animal Bites & Rabies Control

Ohio law requires that all animal bites be reported to the health department so that rabies testing or vaccination can be conducted if needed. Rabies is a preventable viral disease of mammals most often transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal. The vast majority of rabies cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) each year occur in wild animals like raccoons, skunks, bats and foxes.

However, domestic animals, such as dogs and cats, that bite a person must be quarantined for 10 days after the bite; if the animal is healthy at the end of the 10 days they must have a current rabies vaccination prior to release from quarantine. Contact the health department for proper procedures at 937-548-4196 ext. 209.

Additional Information regarding Rabies: www.cdc.gov/rabies

Bathing Beaches

The Darke County General Health District licenses, inspects, and performs water samples on Bathing Beaches in the County.  The Bathing Beach Program’s goal is to assure a safe and healthy aquatic recreational environment by protecting the bathing public from risks of contracting waterborne diseases from exposure to contaminated waters.  For more information on our Bathing Beach Program call 937-548-4196 ext. 208.

Bathing Beach Regulations

Bed Bug Information

Body Art Facilities

Body Art operations are regulated under Ohio Administrative Code Chapter 3701-9. Currently there are seven licensed facilities within Darke County. If you are interested in starting an operation, contact the Health Department at 937-548-4196 ext. 205 or visit this page.

Click here to access the Ohio Department of Health Body Art page and here for Ohio Tattoo Facility Regulations.


Campgrounds 

Campgrounds include resident camps, recreational vehicle (RV) parks, combined park-camps, and temporary campgrounds.

Darke County General Health District licenses camps, and inspects the operation and maintenance of these facilities in order to protect the public from injury, minimize the potential for disease transmission, and provide a safe and healthy recreational environment.

Click here to learn more about our Campground Program or call 937-548-4196 ext. 208.

Food Safety Program

Health Department sanitarians are responsible for conducting plan reviews, complaint investigations and regular food safety assessments of food service operations and retail food establishments such as restaurants, grocery stores, school kitchens, vending and caterers to assure food safety and prevent food-borne illness.

Click here to learn more about our food safety program, including rules, forms, and inspection reports.  For further information, call 937-548-4196 ext. 206.

Lead Program

Health Department sanitarians partner with Ohio Department of Health Lead Poisoning Prevention Program for families in Darke County.  The sanitarians complete a questionnaire and investigate lead-poisoned children from birth through 72 months of age.  During the investigation education is given on proper ways to clean and remove lead sources from the home and ways to decrease the lead levels in the individuals body.  Lead can damage nearly every system in the human body and has harmful effects on both adults and children. Visit our Lead Program page for further information or call 937-548-4196 ext. 203.

Mosquito Surveillance and Control

The Darke County Health Department cooperates with the Ohio Department of Health (ODH), townships, cities and villages in Darke County to survey the mosquito population.  The sanitarians trap mosquitoes across the county, look for larval breeding places, test mosquitoes for the presence of West Nile Virus, and provide information to the public on how to reduce the risk of disease.  For more information, or to learn how you can help, contact the health department at 937-548-4196 ext. 225.

Click here for more information on our Mosquito Program.

Nuisance Complaints

The Darke County Health Department are investigated upon receipt of a signed complaint form available in the office. Incomplete complaints or complaints that are not signed or health related will not be investigated. Public Health nuisances include such things as garbage and refuse complaints, housing problems, air quality issues, insect and rodent infestations, lead abatement and sewage system failures. It is the responsibility of the property owner to correct any conditions which are creating a public health nuisance, or has the potential to create one. For further information, please call 937-548-4196 ext. 203.

Darke County General Health District Premise Regulations

Additions to Premise Sanitation Regulations- Section X – Methamphetamine Laboratory Rules

Nuisance Insects

Ohio’s Smoke-Free Workplace Act 

Chapter 3794. of the Ohio Revised Code (ORC) prohibits all forms of tobacco smoke in all public places and places of employment and in areas immediately adjacent to the ingress or egress of the public place or place of employment. While immediately adjacent is not yet defined, proprietors must assure smoke does not enter the area where smoking is prohibited through entrances, windows, ventilation systems or other means.

Report Violations: 1-866-559-OHIO, or NoSmoke@odh.ohio.gov

Plumbing Program

The plumbing program provides services to ensure the proper installation of the plumbing systems within the county. It includes the inspection and permitting of new plumbing systems and the registration of plumbers that perform work with the county.

For more information click here or please call 937-548-4196 ext. 209.

Private Water Systems 

Private water systems, including wells, cisterns, hauled water storage tanks, and ponds used for drinking water are regulated by the Ohio Private Water Systems Regulations (Ohio Administrative Code 3701-28). A permit must be issued by the health department prior to installing or altering a private water system. A private water system provides water to less than 25 people a day. This usually includes all homes and some small businesses. Systems that regularly serve an average of at least 25 individuals daily at least 60 days each year are regulated by the Ohio EPA.

Click here to learn more about private water systems or call 937-548-4196 ext. 225.

Radon Education & Testing

Radon is a naturally occurring, invisible, odorless gas that is harmlessly dispersed in outdoor air; but when trapped in buildings, can be harmful at elevated levels. The USEPA has determined that radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S., second to smoking. However, because you can’t see or smell radon, people tend to minimize the health effects and ignore the possibility it might exist in elevated levels in their homes.  For more information on Radon or to order a free test kit, visit About Radon | Ohio Department of Health or

www.epa.gov/radon.

Click here to visit the EPA Radon Page www.epa.gov/radon

School Building Inspections

The Health Department conducts inspections of school buildings in Darke County twice a year. School buildings are checked for safety, sanitation, and playground safety. In 2017, the Darke County Board of Health adopted a School Environmental Health and Safety Inspection Methodology that is followed during inspections.  For more information contact a sanitarian at 937-548-4196 ext. 203.

Sewage Treatment Systems

Darke County Health Department sanitarians work to prevent disease transmission and protect the quality of surface and ground water by performing inspections, enforcing sewage regulations, and providing education to homeowners.

Click here for more information about Sewage Treatment Systems or call 937-548-4196 ext. 232.

Solid Waste Program

The Health Department works with the Darke County Solid Waste District and the Ohio EPA in regard to the solid waste programs. These include the registration and inspection of garbage trucks, licensing and inspection of Rumpke Transfer Station, construction and demolition debris facility, scrap tire facility, and inspection of closed landfills and composting facilities. For registration and licensing information contact the Health Department at 937-548-4196 ext. 225.

Darke County requires an Intent to Fill notification for any person using clean hard fill to change grade on a site other than the site of generation. “Clean hard fill” means construction and demolition debris which consists only of reinforced or nonreinforced concrete, asphalt concrete, brick, block, tile, or stone which can be reutilized as construction material. Brick in clean hard fill includes but is not limited to refractory brick and mortar. Clean hard fill does not include materials contaminated with hazardous wastes, solid wastes, or infectious waste.

For more information about Darke County recycling activities, contact the Darke County Solid Waste District at 937-547-0827 or visit co.darke.oh.us/solidwaste

NOTICE– It is a felony to transport 10 or more scrap tires at a time without being registered as a scrap tire hauler with the Ohio EPA.  Click here for information on our scrap tire program!

Swimming Pools

All public swimming pools are subject to Ohio Administrative Code Chapter 3701-31 and are licensed and inspected by the Health Department. Inspections are conducted two (2) times a year or four (4) times a year for indoor pools, which include monitoring operation and parameters such as residual chlorine, pH, alkalinity, water clarity, and safety are examined.

Pool Operators should submit an Incident Report for any reportable incidents to the Local Health Department.

Click here for more information on our Swimming Pool Program or call 937-548-4196 ext. 206.