City Of Columbus Department of Public Utilities

Mayor Michael B. Coleman Tatyana Arsh, P.E., Director
For immediate release Contact: Rick Tilton, 645-6622

July 18, 2008

Mayor, City Council Welcome Ohio EPA Draft Approval of $2.5 Billion Plan to Reduce Sewage Overflows—Need To Keep Sewer Rates Affordable Will Remain Priority

(Columbus) Mayor Michael B. Coleman and City Council are pleased the Ohio Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) has given draft approval to the City’s $2.5 billion, Wet Weather
Management Plan (WWMP). The plan will dramatically reduce sewer overflows and basement
backups during heavy rains and result in cleaner local waterways. The WWMP, submitted to Ohio
EPA July 1, 2005, proposed a 40-year schedule and will bring the City into compliance with two
consent orders signed with the State of Ohio in 2002 and 2004. Ohio EPA will accept public
comment on the plan through August 25.

“We have taken a giant step forward thanks to a lot of long, hard work with our partners at
the Ohio EPA, but there is still much work to do. This means drier basements and a
healthier, greener Columbus for families,” said Mayor Coleman. “But with a project this
expensive we must stay vigilant and do everything we can to keep sewer and water rates
affordable.”

To date, the City has invested nearly $1 billion in consent order projects, including a $106 million
new Headworks facility at the Southerly Wastewater Treatment Plant, other upgrades at the plant,
the Big Walnut Augmentation/Rickenbacker Interceptor and neighborhood sewer projects that will
help reduce overflows and basement backups. Additional improvements to the Southerly and
Jackson Pike wastewater treatment plants are to be completed by 2010 as required. These
projects are part of the WWMP Interim Plan, which Ohio EPA approved in March 2008.

“Columbus’ investment in our sanitary sewer system will place us at the forefront ofwastewater treatment and environmental stewardship,” said Andrew J. Ginther, chair ofCity Council’s Public Utilities Committee. “The plan will eliminate over 80 percent ofoverflow instances by 2015, reduce basement back-ups and improve the quality of ourstreams and rivers for generations to come.”

Ohio EPA draft approval of the WWMP covers projects in the plan except for the timetable for
the final two phases of two large diameter underground tunnels that will run along the
Olentangy River and Alum Creek. Ohio EPA’s draft approval will require the City to submit a
schedule for completion of the two large tunnels, as well as an affordability analysis and rate
study by July 1, 2016, which will build on an extensive affordability analysis the City originally
submitted with the WWMP in 2005.

“We are committed to this plan and working with our partners at the Ohio EPA to makesure it is done in a fiscally and environmentally responsible way to better serve ourratepayers while doing all we can to keep rates affordable,” said Department of PublicUtilities Director Tatyana Arsh.

Since 2006, the City’s Low Income Discount Program has provided a 15 percent discount to
ratepayers living in poverty who meet the program’s qualifications. A separate discount,
generally in the range of 10 percent, is also available to eligible senior citizens 60 years of age
and older. Both discounts’ requirements are based on federal poverty guidelines.
The WWMP will reduce annual sewer overflows from the current 1.65 billion gallons to 250
million gallons by 2025, and to about 100 million gallons by the WWMP’s completion.
The WWMP and Ohio EPA’s comments on the WWMP are available online at http://
www.epa.state.oh.us./dsw/cso/columbus ltcp.html or may be reviewed at Ohio EPA’s Central
District Office, Lazarus Government Center, 50 West Town Street, by first calling (614) 728-
3778 to make an appointment. The WWMP also is available for viewing at the Columbus
Department of Public Utilities’ Business Office, 910 Dublin Road.

State of Ohio Environmental Protection Agency
PUBLIC INTEREST CENTER
P.O. Box 1049,
50 W. Town St., Suite 700
Columbus, OH 43216-1049
Tele: (614) 644-2160
Fax: (614) 644-2737

NEWS RELEASE EPA 0402 (rev. 10/96)

FOR
RELEASE: July
18, 2008
CONTACT: Erin Strouse, (614) 644-2160

Ohio EPA Proposes Approval of Columbus’ $2.5 Billion Planto Reduce Sewage Overflows

Ohio EPA is seeking comments
on its draft approval of the city of Columbus’ wet
weather management plan. When the plan is implemented, there will be a dramatic decrease in
sewer overflows and basement backups that occur in the city of Columbus service area after
rains and snowmelt. The total cost for the projects in the wet weather management plan is $2.5
billion (2005 dollars).

Columbus submitted its wet weather management plan to Ohio EPA in 2005 in
accordance with two separate consent orders issued by the Franklin County Court of Common
Pleas in 2002 and 2004. The orders require Columbus to develop and implement a
comprehensive plan to control overflows from the sewer system.

The draft approval by Ohio EPA approves the projects in the wet weather management
plan. The schedule for implementing these projects is also approved with the exception of the
schedule for completing the final two phases of the Olentangy and Alum Creek relief tunnels.
The draft approval requires Columbus to submit an affordability analysis and rate study no later
than July 1, 2016, with an accelerated schedule to complete the construction of those tunnels.
In the 2004 consent order, Columbus also was required to propose interim projects that
could significantly reduce the volume of overflow by 2010. Ohio EPA approved the interim plan
in March 2008. The interim plan proposed several major projects to meet this requirement.
Construction of these projects is currently underway and is expected to reduce sewage
discharges by approximately 540 million gallons in a typical year by 2010. The total cost for
these interim projects is $729 million.

The Columbus sewer system currently discharges approximately 1.65 billion gallons of
sewer overflow in a typical year. By year 2025, these overflows will be reduced to a total of
approximately 250 million gallons. Once all projects are completed, it is estimated that
remaining overflows from the system will be reduced to approximately 100 million gallons per
year on average. This remaining overflow volume will not cause a violation of the water quality
standards that protect human health and aquatic life. This is primarily due to the relatively short
duration of the discharge (approximately 15 hours total in an average year) and that the
discharge will be to the Scioto River during high river flows, allowing significant dilution of the
remaining overflow volume. Columbus has projected a cost of over $350 million to eliminate the
remaining overflow.

more…

Columbus Wet Weather Plan
July 18, 2008
2-2-2-2

As a condition of approval of the wet weather management plan, Ohio EPA will require
Columbus to periodically re-evaluate whether the remaining overflows can be further minimized
or eliminated and Ohio EPA reserves the right to require additional controls.
Ohio EPA is also proposing to modify the wastewater discharge permits for Columbus’
Jackson Pike and Southerly wastewater treatment plants. This proposal would require that
Columbus implement the approved wet weather management plan. The plan would be
consistent with the conditions outlined in the Ohio EPA draft approval.

The draft approval letter, proposed modifications to the city’s wastewater discharge permits and fact sheet are available at http://www.epa.state.oh.us/dsw/cso/columbus_ltcp.html or may be reviewed at Ohio EPA’s Central District Office, Lazarus Government Center, 50 W. Town St., Columbus, by first calling (614) 728-3778 to make an appointment.

Written comments and requests for a public hearing will be accepted through the close
of business on August 25, 2008. Comments and requests should be addressed to Ohio EPA,
Division of Surface Water, Permits Processing Unit, P.O. Box 1049, Columbus, Ohio 43216-
1049, and Ohio EPA, Central District Office, P.O. Box 1049, Columbus, Ohio 43216-1049.

Background on Sewer Overflow Problems

The Columbus wet weather management plan addresses overflows from the separatelysewered areas of the city as well as overflows from the combined sewer system. Many cities inOhio and across the nation
are being required to address combined and sanitary seweroverflows. Sewage overflows are a major water pollution concern and can have adverse effectson human health.Separate sewer systems are designed to
convey the sewage in a completely separate pipe fromthe home or business directly to the wastewater treatment plant. If properly designed andoperated, they should not overflow during rain events. However,
in the Columbus system, thereare locations where connections of storm water and leaking sewers allow excess rain water intothe sewer. This causes overflows from the sewer system.Combined sewers were built to collect sanitary and industrial wastewater, as well as stormwater runoff, and transport this combined wastewater to treatment facilities where it can betreated and discharged to a nearby river or stream.
During larger wet weather events, thevolume of storm water entering the combined sewer system may exceed the capacity of thecombined sewers or the treatment plant. When this happens, combined sewers aredesigned to allow a portion of the untreated combined wastewater to overflow into the nearest ditch, stream,river or lake.For additional information regarding sewer overflows, how they impact the environment,
why they are a concern, where they are located in Ohio and what is being done to address their impact, log on to: http://www.epa.state.oh.us/dsw/cso/csoindex.html

http://www.epa.state.oh.us/