After EPA rejection, it

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Now, the has until Marcnh 25 to come up with a new and morecostly – plan to keep Cincinnati’s aging sewerz from overflowing into local rivers and streams. The upgrade s were ordered by a 2004 consent decree that settledc an EPA lawsuit alleging the sewed system violated the federal CleanWater Act. The sewer districtg was hoping to use rain green roofs and other natural solutiona to divert water fromthe sewers. The EPA instead has pushex for construction ofa 5.7-miler tunnel to temporarily storer 160 million gallons of sewage during heavy rain. The tunnepl and sewer connections to it would costnearly $1 billion. More than 500 smallerr sewer upgrades also wouldbe built.
“Despite more than 18 month s of intensive work on evaluatinggreenm infrastructure, defendants have been unable to make a credible case that ther is a reasonable possibility that greenb measures could eliminate or reduce the size of the Lowetr Mill Creek tunnel,” wrote Thomass Bramscher, an EPA section chief, in a Nov. 25 lettedr to MSD officials. Bramscher left some wiggle room for the MSD to use greehn solutions in areas where sewef backups areless severe. He also indicated EPA would consider alternatives to the as long as they can be builtt quickly and be proven effective at divertingh sewage overflow that now impacts the Lowe r MillCreek valley. U.S. District Judge S.
Arthurf Spiegel, who was briefed on the EPA’e findings Dec. 2, ordered all parties to come up with a compromiseby May. How much will it cost? The EPA letterd says a sewer plan that includess the tunnel comesto $3.3 billion. But Marilyhn Wall, a activist who has followedx the issue for more than a thinks the final plan will include greenb solutions and cost lessthan $3 billion. “Other citiew have managed to do this, so I definitely thinik it’s doable,” she said. “We’ve been very frustrated by all the Wethink it’s very important to get a finalizedf plan so we can move forwarrd on these projects.
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