By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
Bucyrus and the U.S. EPA will be continuing their current non-combative alliance for the foreseeable future.
The Bucyrus City Council passed a resolution during a special meeting Thursday evening that would allow Mayor Jeff Reser to enter into an Administrative Order of Consent with the U.S. EPA. The Order of Consent was required by the EPA in order to reduce the city’s combined sewer overflows that have contributed to poor water quality.
The city has already been at work on correcting its sewer systems. Sewer system projects have been completed on Spring and Charles streets as part of the Buffalo Run portion of the larger sewer project.
“Having been a federal defense attorney for 15 years, it’s striking the number of similarities between this and a federal plea agreement,” Law Director Rob Ratliff joked before reviewing important aspects of the Order on Consent with the council.
“There’s a lot there and a lot that we need to make sure we understand what is going to be required of us and what we’re to maintain,” Ratliff explained.
Some of those requirements include continued maintenance of the current sewer system.
“We can’t rob one side of our sewer system in order to fix another side,” Ratliff clarified.
The city will have to submit plans on how the current sewer system is being maintained and how the city is using money to do so. One of the biggest factors to maintaining the funding for the current sewer system came earlier this summer when City Council approved a 3-percent raise in sewer rates, a rate that will be used exclusively to maintain the sewer system just down from Harmon Field on Lane Street.
The EPA also required that the city to post signs along the river where there may be contamination. An asset management plan will need to be drawn up to show to the EPA how the city is tracking and maintaining the assets it has. The plan must be submitted to the EPA within one year and the city must begin following that plan within 30 days of the submission.
Biannual and annual reports will have to be turned in to the EPA and plans are expected to be drawn up in the near future for Phases 2 and 3 of the sewer system plan.
Ratliff also warned City Council of the possible civil or criminal penalties that could be leveled against the city if it doesn’t follow the Order of Consent.
In Pineville, Louisiana – a village smaller than New Washington – people went to prison for not following its agreement. A $500,000 penalty was levied against Chattanooga, Tennessee and even Lima, Ohio was reprimanded for not following EPA requirements. Fort Smith, Arkansas is being forced to spend $225 million to deal with issues.
“That’s the hammer side of what they do,” Ratliff said. The agreement to follow the Order of Consent was the carrot side of things, he added.
The city has a schedule for the entire project that spans through 2022.
The Order of Consent will go into effect once signed by the city and the U.S. EPA.
“Obviously, it has taken a long time to get to this point,” noted Tina Wolff of Arcadis, a firm that has assisted the city with the sewer system and the EPA. “In many times over that period, the council has asked me: ‘Doesn’t the EPA give us credit for the work that we have done with Spring and Charles (streets)?’ I’ve said over and over again that they are by not suing you.”
Wolff said the Order of Consent is another statement that the EPA respects what Bucyrus has been able to accomplish.
“The effort that you have spent over the years has been acknowledged by the U.S. EPA,” Flock assured the council.
Wolff further consoled council members that though they will have to comply with the annual reports, it will be on a level that is appropriate for a community the size of Bucyrus.
“With what you did over the summer, you caught back up to matching what your expenses are,” Wolff pointed out. “That is obviously important.”
Despite being on a more level footing for sewer system expenses, Wolff said that could easily change – for better or worse – as the time nears for Phases 2 and 3 of the project. She added that the city needs to be prepared that the EPA would have an expectation for the project to continue at the same pace as it currently is proceeding.
“The EPA came to us and said tell us what you can do in a reasonable amount of time – and they accepted it,” Wolff said. “We are in a very good place. Many communities would like to be where we are.”
The city will be able to use data to show how much pollution is being taken out of the Buffalo Run near the Sandusky River.
“There is an understanding that this is the first phase of work. While this is an incredible amount of work – the Buffalo is a very big sewer system, it covers a third of the city – so we’re are not going to get through this and be in absolute attainment with the Clean Water Act. This is a first step,” Wolff said. “What we’re going to be looking for is to prove the incremental benefits are worth the cost and we’ll also use that than as a planning tool for the next phase to make sure that we’re making the smart decisions, not only about where we’re working in the system but that we really are accomplishing pollution reduction that this is intended to accomplish.”
The Buffalo Run will be the biggest contributor into getting the city into compliance with the EPA order.
The council passed the resolution to enter into the Order of Consent. In addition, five other pieces of legislation were approved at the meeting. Those ordinances and resolutions were originally on the agenda for the Sept. 15 meeting but were held to a first reading due to the lack of a quorum. The additional legislation created a new line for the Crime Victims Assistance fund, approved various appropriations, approved an alley vacation between McKinley and Lincoln streets, approved a OPWC grant for the Plymouth waterline replacement project bid, and authorized the auditor to pay $25,750 to Brandstetter-Carroll.
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