Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - AMSA in the News
Cincinnati to Spend $1 Billion to Upgrade
Sewer System, Curb Discharges Under Pact
Cincinnati will spend more than $1 billion to upgrade its sewer system, which
has discharged raw sewage into local waters, under a settlement reached with
federal regulators, the Justice Department and U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency announced Dec. 3 (United States v. Board of Commissioners of Hamilton
County, S.D. Ohio, no docket number available yet, 12/3/03).
The Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati serves both the city and
Hamilton County. EPA and the Justice Department said the sewer system operated
by the district has discharged untreated sewage into nearby waterways during wet
weather events "for years." These discharges have occurred through overflow
pipes in the district's sanitary sewers as well as through outfalls built years
ago. Combined sewer overflows, from systems that transport both sanitary sewage
and stormwater, are responsible for about 6 billion gallons of raw sewage being
discharged into nearby rivers and streams annually, the agencies said.
The discharges occur because of aging infrastructure and inadequate capacity to
handle additional flows, especially during wet weather.
Permits Required
The Clean Water Act makes it illegal to discharge pollutants into U.S. waters
without a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. Cincinnati had
permits for its CSOs, EPA and the Justice Department said, but the discharges
violated the terms of the permits.
In February 2000, the city and county reached a partial settlement with EPA and
Justice amounting to about $450 million to address the sanitary sewer overflow
problems (United States v. Board of Commissioners of Hamilton County, S.D. Ohio,
No. C1-02-107, 2/15/02; 33 DEN A-6, 2/19/02).
DOJ and EPA did not say how much the city and county were expected to spend
under the agreement announced Dec. 3, but that combined with the 2002
settlement, the total would be more than $1 billion.
"The Justice Department is committed to enforcing our nation's clean water laws
to protect human health and the environment for the residents of the greater
Cincinnati region," Thomas Sansonetti, assistant attorney general for DOJ's
Environment and Natural Resources Division, said in a statement.
Develop Plan
Under the consent agreement, Cincinnati will have to develop a plan to bring its
CSOs and wastewater treatment plant into compliance with Clean Water Act
regulations. This will be in addition to upgrades for the systems SSOs. All work
must be completed by February 2022, the agreement said, unless the projects'
cost exceed $1.5 billion. Then more time may be allowed, the agencies said.
Cities and other localities have been grappling with the problem of aging
infrastructure, especially in light of growing populations and stricter
environmental regulations. The Water Infrastructure Network, a coalition of
municipalities, wastewater treatment officials, and others, estimated the cost
of upgrades and maintenance for sewer systems at more than $23 billion annually
for the next 20 years.
In an October 2002 analysis, EPA estimated the funding gap for wastewater and
drinking water at about $534 billion over 20 years, about half of the $1
trillion estimated by WIN. However, municipalities and EPA officials have said
that whichever figure is more accurate, it still represents a daunting amount of
money.
Municipalities have been pushing for Congress to increase funding to cover the
costs of preventing what they said could be a serious environmental and public
health crisis. These groups also have been working with the agency to come up
with ways for addressing the funding shortfall. EPA has supported a strategy
that focuses on improved plant efficiency, more efficient use of water
resources, and possible consolidation of wastewater treatment facilities, among
other things.
Patrick Karney, the director of the Metropolitan Sewer District for Greater
Cincinnati, testified before Congress in March 2001 that public utilities have
had to learn to operate more like a business, especially in the face of
increased competition from private entities. He could not be reached for comment
Dec. 3.
By Susan Bruninga