Explanation
This legislation authorizes the Director of Water and Power to pay the State of Ohio, Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA), penalties for combined sewer overflows, sanitary sewer overflows, and wastewater treatment plant bypasses that occur in 2025 and 2026.
The City’s sewer system occasionally experiences combined sewer (CSO) or sanitary sewer overflows (SSO) due to wet weather and dry weather events. Wet weather events are more common and often due to heavy rains, while dry weather occurrences are due to collection system blockages often caused by roots or debris. Bypasses are overflows or untreated releases into the environment. The City and the State of Ohio entered into Consent Orders in 2002 and 2004 to address concerns related to bypasses and each type of overflow.
Overflows and bypasses are often weather-dependent, which makes occurrences vary from year-to-year. For example, 2023 was a relatively wet year while 2024 and 2025 were relatively dry years.
The Consent Orders stipulate fines to be paid for CSO and SSOs, the amount of which depends on the type and number of event. These parameters are shown in the table below:
Event Amount Per Event Due Date
Dry Weather SSO $1,500 March 1st, each year
Wet Weather SSO March 1st, each year
1-250 events $2,500
251-500 events $12,500
> 500 events $20,000
Southerly Bypass $2,000 March 1st, each year
Dry Weather CSO $2,000 Within 45 days of event
Jackson Pike Bypass $2,000 Within 45 days of event
SUPPLIER:
Treasurer of State of Ohio, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency| D365 Vendor #005089 | Governmental Entity
FISCAL IMPACT:
$60,000.00 is needed and budgeted to pay these fines.
$26,500.00 has been paid so far in 2025 as of 10/30/2025
$28,500 was paid in 2024
$58,000.00 was paid in 2023
Title
To authorize the Director of the Department of Water and Power to pay combined sewer overflows, sanitary sewer overflows, and wastewater treatm...
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