Jim Roberts of Watershed Organic Lawn Care will install a shade rain garden at the Beuter home, 600 Glenmont Ave., between 10:00 a.m and 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 20th.

This rain garden is funded through the Michael Hazelroth Rainy Day Fund.
Judy Robinson
judyrob59@gmail.com

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/

Read the entire article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/22/magazine/22Plastics-t.html?ex=1214798400&en=541d1f4221501f26&ei=5070&emc=eta1

This article got me thinking. First, I am very grateful for the City of Columbus’ stormwater runoff improvement projects.

Then I started thinking about our group and my own behavior. The Adena Brook Community litter clean up program is more than cleaning up the neighborhood. It’s a clean water public awareness lesson. We aim to become more informed about ways each of us can contribute to a clean water solution. To be blunt: I am working to change my behavior. A few months ago I heard OSU glaciologist Lonnie Thompson talk about what he thinks humans can do to help improve our global environment. He said the biggest help would be a change in attitude, a change in our behaviors. Change is challenging, but I’m trying.

Here’s my short list:

Commit to recycle.

Keep your cloth bags in the car so they’re there when you buy groceries.

Purchase concentrated, non-toxic household cleaners.

Choose tap instead of bottled water. Tap water can be additionally filtered with reverse osmosis and distiller.

Reduce storm water runoff from my home. Install rain barrels, rain gardens, unhook gutters.

I am the manager of the section that is responsible for regulating public drinking water systems in central Ohio.  I took a look at the EWG web site and the report in general has some good information however I don’t always agree with their interpretation or presentation style.  The ranking appears to be based on detection of contaminants regardless of source, concentration or known health affects.  Ohio is more densely populated and industrialized state so one would expect to see some increase in detectable contaminants.  This alone does not provide a reasonable indicator of health and safety.  I agree with you in that “healthy, clean, and safe” are subjective and do not provide sufficient information on the quality of water.  As a regulator we use the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and the regulatory limits established under it as the measure of quality.  There are as many opinions as to whether the regulatory limits are sufficient or not as there are experts.  Many groups such as EWG feel that the regulatory standards need to be tighter and include many more contaminants.  We all want the cleanest water possible and water systems can, with sufficient funding, improve water quality in most cases.  The costs associated with water treatment is quite high and the regulatory limits do take into account the ability of water system, and therefore their customers, to pay for the level of treatment required to maintain water in compliance with the limits.  A recent example of this was with the change in the Arsenic limits.  The old limit was 50 ug/l (parts per trillion) and there were proposals to lower the limit somewhere between 2 to 10 ug/l.  Health effects, available treatment technology, cost associated with treatment and laboratory detection capability were all considered in where the new limit would be set.  I think we all would agree that we don’t want any arsenic in our water however the cost associated verses the improvement in public health protection didn’t support setting a regulatory limit of 2.  The current arsenic limit is 10 ug/l.  To a large extent what is “healthy, clean, and safe” is a matter of opinion and should be formed on a solid base of factual information.  Those with compromised or weak immune systems (infants, elderly, cancer patients, etc.) should take extra care.  The distiller unit you are using, assuming it is a quality unit that is certified by a third party such as the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF), should remove about everything from your water.  I too drink water from the City of Columbus and without any concern.  The City takes the treatment and safety of the water very seriously.  If you have specific questions about the US EPA rule writing and standards setting I encourage you to call the Safe Drinking Water Act Hotline at 800-426-4791.  For any questions regarding public water systems in Ohio feel free to contact me. Scot Folz

A neighbor reported seeing bubbles in the brook last weekend. I reported this to the City and Jeff Cox responds:  ”It is important that instances of sanitary sewerage overflow be reported immediately to a Sewer Operation and Maintenance Center Dispatcher at 645-7102. 

If the overflow is caused by a blockage then maintenance activities can be immediately performed to restore flow.  If it is a capacity issue, then the overflow can be documented and future consideration can be given to implementing a CIP to correct the problem.  A Dispatcher is always available at the number above 24/7/365.

 Please report any suspicious discharges, such as bubbles, to the brook or area storm sewers to Jeff Vesco at 645-0362.  Jeff oversees our illicit discharge program and is available Monday thru Friday, between 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Jeff will immediately dispatch an investigator to the scene.  For suspicious discharges occurring outside these hours, please use the 645-7102 number to report the discharge.  Personnel from our sewer maintenance center will investigate after hours.  Keep in mind that it is always easier for us to identify the source and responsible party for illicit discharges as the discharge is occurring.  For this reason, immediate reporting and response is critical to eliminating the discharge in the future.”

Jeff Cox, P.E., City of Columbus, Dept. of Public Utilities, Stormwater and Regulatory Management Section