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Combined Sewer Overflows
The City of Jeffersonville is among 772 communities in the United States -- 107 of which are located in Indiana -- which suffers from combined sewer overflows. Combined sewers carry sanitary and storm water in the same pipes. In dry conditions or when there is light precipitation, this isn't necessarily a problem. But when there are moderate to heavy rainfalls or snow melts, the sewer lines cannot handle all of the liquids that need to be transported to the wastewater treatment plant and they overflow into nearby waterways. In Jeffersonville's case, the combined sewer overflows affect the Ohio River and Cane Run. Combined sewer overflows, also known as CSOs, are generally a violation of the Clean Water Act. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is enforcing the Clean Water Act across the U.S. by seeking consent decrees with or filing civil lawsuits against communities with combined sewer overflows. On Sunday, June 13, 2010, The Courier-Journal published an article on sewer rates in Louisville, which focuses on Louisville's Metropolitan Sewer District, but provides some solid background on what's happening with sewer rates nationally. This can help explain why Jeffersonville's sewer rates have increased 105%, following last year's consent decree for combined sewer overflows between the Jeffersonville Sanitary Sewer Board, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Justice and Indiana Department of Environmental Management. The Combined Sewer Overflow Long Term Control Plan that is currently under EPA review will require that Jeffersonville spend between $90 million and $120 million through 2020 or 2025 to reduce sewer overflows into the Ohio River and other local waterways. Click HERE to learn more about the sewer projects that are being funded by the rate increase that took effect in 2010. Some other notable cities with combined sewer overflows include: How could this have happened? Jeffersonville's oldest sewers -- some of which are made of brick -- have been in the ground approximately 100 years or slightly longer. To put this in perspective:
At that time, there really were no wastewater treatment plants and all sewage -- sanitary and storm -- was sent directly to a waterway such as the Ohio River and forgotten about. Today's engineers lament the long-held, old-time belief "the solution to pollution is dilution." When we began building wastewater treatment facilities in Jeffersonville, those combined sewers were already in place and, at the time, no one saw a need to separate those sewer lines. The conventional wisdom of the day was that if the sewers overflowed, the Ohio River was large enough to overcome our pollutants. Of course, they were thinking the same things in Pittsburgh, Ashland, Cincinnati, Covington, Madison, Louisville and Evansville, too. As communities developed, they generated an even greater number of combined sewer overflows. In 1972, Congress passed the first version of the Clean Water Act and, eventually, the EPA began working its way from one CSO community to another, enforcing the law. What does this mean for Jeffersonville? In August 2009, the Jeffersonville Sanitary Sewer Board ratified a consent decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. As a result of the consent decree, the Jeffersonville Sanitary Sewer Board will be expected to spent between $90 million and $120 million between 2010 and 2020 to reduce or eliminate combined sewer overflows. In 2009, the Jeffersonville City Council approved ordinances 2009-OR-043, increasing sewer rates incrementally through 2015, and ordinance 2009-OR-044, which consents to approximately $47 million in financing for projects meant to alleviate combined sewer overflows in Jeffersonville. Did sewer rates really need to double all at once? Unfortunately, they did. Unlike private-sector utilities -- such as Duke Energy, Indiana American Water and Vectren Corporation -- the city's sewer utility does not operate with a profit. The Sanitary Sewer Board and City Council set sewer rates at only what are needed to operate the wastewater collection and treatment system and to pay for capital improvements to the system. When major improvements are requires -- such as the $90 million to $120 million unfunded federal mandate we are now facing -- rates must increase to fund the projects. The fact is that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency could have asked a U.S. District Court judge to triple Jeffersonville's sewer rates all at once, rather than doubling them and then phasing in the remainder of the rate increase. After 20 months of negotiations, EPA representatives agreed that doubling the rates now and approving $47 million in improvements represented a good-faith effort and they relented on an immediate tripling of the rates. Since 1998, the Jeffersonville City Council has approved sewer rate increases twice, both times to address issues relating to CSOs and the Clean Water Act. Ordinance 2004-OR-046 increased rates 35 percent from what they had been since 1998 and that work funded approximately $23 million in "early action items" (financed via ordinance 2005-OR-022) for the Long-Term Control Plan that was ultimately submitted to EPA in April 2010. The increase in ordinance 2009-OR-043 funded approximately $47 million in improvements for the Long-Term Control Plan founded in the financing ordinance 2009-OR-044. Click HERE to learn more about the sewer projects that are being funded by the rate increase that took effect in 2010. What happens next? In April 2010, the Sanitary Sewer Board submitted a Combined Sewer Overflow Long-Term Control Plan to EPA Region 5. Due to ongoing discussions with EPA, the Sanitary Sewer Board already knew some of the work that needs to be done, even in advance of the EPA's approval of the Long-Term Control Plan. That work is included in the $47 million financing package the City Council approved in late 2009. Among the work you can expect to see during the next few years:
Did sewer rates increase to pay for the canal? No, they didn't. One of the things the increased sewer rates will pay for is the partial separation of combined sewers in downtown Jeffersonville. This work would have been necessary whether the storm water is sent to a canal or a series of underground pipes. The downtown canal will be paid for from sources other than sewer rates. And since the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance controls how much money the city can generate from property tax revenues, property taxes cannot be increased to pay for the canal, either. The funding package for the canal is still being put together, but here are some things we do know:
Are CSOs the city's only sewer problems? Unfortunately, no. There are points within the city's collection system -- including some outside the combined sewer area -- that experience overflows during wet weather, due to the infiltration of storm water into sanitary sewers. For instance, when Jeffersonville received 4.76 inches of rain (National Weather Service data) on May 1-2, 2010, it experienced five sanitary sewer overflows. Two of those were due to equipment equipment failures that were fixed that day. The remaining three were systematic problems that are addressed in the Long-Term Control Plan that EPA is currently reviewing. That particular rain event took its toll on sanitary sewer systems in Southern Indiana. On May 2, when Jeffersonville reported five overflows, New Albany reported four, Charlestown, Clarksville and Madison each reported 3; Georgetown and Sellersburg reported two each; and Pekin and the Henryville Membership Sanitation Corp. each reported one. Jeffersonville reports these incidents -- as required by law -- to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, which publishes an Overflow Incident Weekly Report. There are several ways in which storm water can infiltrate a sewer line, such as:
But there's another issue with Jeffersonville's sewers, as well.
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(Jeffersonville Indiana) YouTube (cityofjeff) Wastewater Department Ordinances/Statutes Wastewater Department Documents/Announcements/Links Putting the City's Work in Context Resources for You Additional Community Links |
In
approximately 1,000 acres of Jeffersonville's oldest
section -- roughly Main Street west to the corporate
limits with the Town of Clarksville -- Jeffersonville
has combined sewers, or sewers that carry both sanitary
and storm water.
Only
since 2009 has it come to light that there are a number of points
within the city's sanitary sewer collection system at which
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