Higher rates and EPA requirements have Euclid council debating $150 million project

Construction trailers by the BP station in downtown Euclid will become very active once the $150 million sewer project begins being debated in City Council begins.

While the City of Euclid is close to beginning a huge infrastructure project designed to help it comply with an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandate, some are raising a red flag about the path chosen by the City’s Administration as being too narrowly focused.  The current approach calls for improvements totaling approximately $150 million.  In an effort to call attention to a pending decision about how the City of Euclid complies with the EPA mandate, Councilpersons Patrick McLaughlin and Daryl Langman hosted a presentation September 18 in Council chambers on an alternative approach to addressing the issue.

Funding for this project – likely one of if not the the largest infrastructure initiative in Euclid’s history – can be seen in Euclid homeowners’ water bills.  Over the past few years, homeowners’ bills have increased significantly – more than double - and will continue to do so to grow to pay for the project.

When asked why he is so concerned about the current approach to the issue, Councilman McLaughlin, an engineer by profession, commented “You’ll be seeing ever increasing rates over the next several years and into the future, but you won’t see any benefits above the ground.  Just a big tunnel.  No improved streets.  No neighborhood upgrades.   But most importantly, we lose the chance to potentially save money.”

The complex issue is coming to a head as Euclid attempts to meet requirements of a Consent Decree from the EPA.  In summary, the EPA is requiring cities with old sanitary and sewer infrastructure to upgrade their systems.  This requirement is part of an effort to clean up Lake Erie.  Currently during very heavy rains, the sewer systems become overloaded as rainwater mixes with water from sanitary drains which contain toilet and waste water.  This combined sewage is then released directly into Lake Erie.  The EPA reached an agreement with the Administration that Euclid will experience only four of these overflow occurrences a year requiring action on the part of the City.

To reduce the number of overflows and comply with the EPA mandate, the City Administration has developed a plan with the City’s engineering firm, CT Consultants, to expand the capabilities of the current water treatment facility located by the Lakefront Community Center.  The approach the Administration is taking relies primarily on conventional engineering infrastructure – often called grey infrastructure.  While Euclid’s approach is much smaller in scale, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) is using similar engineering principals as it digs a huge tunnel to upgrade system-wide capacity.  The NEORSD effort can be seen above the ground on the south side of the East Shoreway near the Lakeshore Blvd exit where a former wooded area is now filled with construction equipment.  The NEORSD program also includes a significant amount of green infrastructure.

Yet not everyone is convinced that the City should follow the same approach of simply investing large sums of money into a significant construction project in order to comply with the EPA order.  Instead, Councilpersons McLaughlin, Langman and others are hoping to convince the public and the Cervenik Administration of the potential behind what is called green infrastructure.

Matthew Marko and Tim Coleman, vice presidents with CH2MHill, a nationally recognized engineering consulting firm, visited Euclid from Syracuse, New York and Cleveland, Ohio respectively to provide insight into an alternative approach to the project Euclid is considering.  Marko worked as a primary consultant in Onondaga County, New York – which includes the City of Syracuse - where they undertook a huge initiative to comply with EPA directives.  Like Euclid and other Cities in our area, how to comply with the EPA was a significant issue in Onondaga County as it debated the right balance of the green and grey options to reduce sewer overflows.  Year after year the issue was not addressed until finally over a several year period, the County used a balanced grey-green approach to comply with EPA requirements.  This balanced approach ultimately saved Onondaga County area taxpayers money while providing attractive public works projects that work in coordination with grey improvements already implemented or planned in the future to fully comply with the EPA.

Marko and Coleman’s firm conducted a preliminary review of the Euclid Consent Decree and came back with a number of observations based on very high level information made available for review.  The City did not pay for the evaluation or the presentation by the CH2MHill engineers.  Several observations made by Marko focus on the Consent Decree possibly being too stringent and the benefits of revisiting it with the EPA.  Other observations were in direct contrast to the engineering firm hired by the City to evaluate the potential of green solutions.  Other observations of Marko’s include:

• Program affordability analysis is not aligned with current best practices.  (Translation: Marko thinks the City might benefit from an updated affordability analysis.)
• Significant schedule and cost risk of program.  (Translation: Marko thinks a lifecycle cost analysis of the current program should be conducted to support a balanced green-grey approach.)
• Ruling out of green infrastructure is inconsistent with National practice and EPA Policy.
• No clear linkage between the program investments and water quality benefits was apparent in the materials reviewed.

With green solutions, excess water from rain is diverted away from the sewer system into plantings designed to temporarily hold or absorb the water until it evaporates naturally.  Pavement, rooftops and other structures do not absorb water.  Just like the gutter system of a home, the water has to go somewhere.  In the case of a home, pavement or other structures, the water goes into the sewer.  On light rain days, this isn’t a problem.  But on those days when rain is heavy or continues for long periods, the sewers fill up, and the sanitary waste (from toilets and other sources) mixes with the rainwater and overflows into Lake Erie. 

To prevent these overflows, green engineering solutions can minimize the amount of water entering the sewer system.  Simple things like rain barrels are an almost insignificant part of the solution.  Collection basins, rain gardens, swales, plantings, vegetated roofs, permeable pavements, and diverting water to areas where evaporation or controlled water absorption can happen are all incorporated into green engineering concepts.  Trees and plants absorb water before it enters the system.

The advantage of green solutions is that large buildings or construction projects typically influenced by the City of Euclid, like road repavings, new construction or redevelopment, occur with more plants and natural stormwater management areas to help divert water away from the sewers.  These solutions often result in better curb appeal, more natural landscaping and a more attractive environment.  For an older community like Euclid, where roads are often in need of repair, rather than just a new layer of asphalt, a road could be reimagined with plantings and streetscape amenities to make it look more pleasing.  Think of a more attractive Euclid Avenue or Lakeshore Blvd with a center section with trees and plants absorbing rain runoff.

Yet green solutions are not always cheaper or easier to undertake.  In fact grey solutions – the building of a new sewer system or holding tanks like the approach Euclid is currently planning – may be viewed as easier to implement because they are well-defined solutions that don’t require the more creative solutions needed for green engineering.  The costs are theoretically more defined and planned.  Unfortunately, few can visually see the benefits of grey solutions.  

By asking the CH2MHill consultants to review Euclid’s situation, McLaughlin hoped to open some eyes.  “With an integrated plan, residents will see the improvements and take interest in them.  It will impact their daily lives in a positive way.  With our current plan, no one will ever know anything happened.  It is all underground.  They will never understand why their bills are so high.”