NEWS: "I can happily announce my intent to retire," CEO Ciaccia to leave a clean-water legacy

Ciaccia has served the Sewer District since 2007.

Julius Ciaccia, Jr., has announced his intent to retire from the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, effective this coming January. Ciaccia has led the organization since 2007.

Ciaccia joined the Sewer District following a 30-year tenure with the City of Cleveland, serving as Director of Public Utilities and Commissioner of Water. Throughout his career, he has been extremely active with water and wastewater organizations, serving as President of Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), Water Utility Council Chair for American Water Works Association (AWWA), Chair at Water Research Foundation (WRF), and as President of the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA). He currently serves as a US Water Alliance board member and locally on the Cleveland Water alliance board.

UPDATES: Stormwater progress, Director's contract extended, Mackenzie moving forward

Three significant items were discussed at today's Board of Trustees meeting, all of which showed signs of big things to come.

Our regional stormwater management program language, known as Title V [opens PDF in a new window] was approved by Trustees with plans to implement the program beginning in 2013. This is following a 30-day public-comment period. Some of the most notable changes in our plan include increased cost-sharing for communities: 25% of all fees collected from the program will be returned to each community for local stormwater-related needs. We discussed this in recent Plain Dealer feature.

Executive Director Julius Ciaccia also had his contract extended through 2016. Trustees specifically drew attention to accomplishments such as progress in stormwater management, engineering practices improvements, and implementation of the 25-year Project Clean Lake consent decree.

Lastly, during our monthly project report, we heard that Mackenzie, our 300-foot-long tunnel boring machine will begin drilling by this time next month. Mackenzie is burrowing the 18,000-foot-long Euclid Creek Tunnel on Cleveland's east side, starting her journey in Bratenahl.

Performance audit affirms new business practices are on target

Today, the Auditor of State released a performance audit for the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District which praised many business practices instituted since 2007 and recommended further improvements.

Trustees approve sewer rate increase for 2012-2016

Today, Trustees of the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District voted to accept the recommendation to increase sewer rates effective January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2016. The dissenting votes were Parma Mayor Dean DePiero and Middleburg Heights Mayor Gary Starr.

Court ruling: District has authority to implement stormwater program

Yesterday, Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Thomas J. Pokorny ruled that Chapter 6119 of the Ohio Revised Code gives the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District the authority to implement the large majority of its Stormwater Management Program.

EPA touts Sewer District's green infrastructure program

In its announcement to promote the use of green infrastructure for environmental and economic benefits, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District’s program was listed a model for other municipalities around the country. Nine other communities across the country also were mentioned by US EPA as leaders in this field.

Video: Project Clean Lake breaks ground with Euclid Creek Tunnel

Southerly wastewater treatment plant flooded by storm, snow melt

The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District’s Southerly Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) is experiencing flooding and is limited in its capabilities to treat wastewater entering the plant. This morning’s flooding was caused by heavy rains compounded by snow melt and already-saturated grounds.

Director Ciaccia responds to alleged link to road-salt scam

From Executive Director Julius Ciaccia | Today, an article appeared in The Plain Dealer about allegations of bid-rigging in the salt industry that cost the State of Ohio and municipalities millions. Several radio stations already picked up the story, and I'm sure TV will as well.

If you read the story or heard it on the radio, you have found that my name has been associated with the allegations. Let me set out a few points about this story as it relates to me and the Sewer District. They are as follows:

Consent decree open for public comment through Jan. 28

The Sewer District's combined sewer overflow (CSO) long-term control plan consent decree, a 25-year agreement with the Federal government to reduce sewage discharges to the environment, was posted in the Federal Register today, beginning the 30-day public-comment period. Here are the instructions for making comments, and the comment period ends January 28, 2011. Known as Project Clean Lake, the initiative will reduce annual sewage discharges to the environment from 4.5 billion gallons to 0.49 billion gallons.

WMJI's Lanigan & Malone talk sewer rates with Director Ciaccia

How will the recently passed consent decree affect sewer rates? Executive Director Julius Ciaccia appeared on this morning's Lanigan & Malone radio show on WMJI 105.7 where he discussed that, addressing the environmental problem of combined sewers, and what's next.

Download:
http://www.neorsd.org/images/682/wmji_ciaccia-2010-1206.mp3