FLINT: Health, trust, and funding in the wake of Flint's water crisis

Three issues are critical to the future of clean water systems, Sewer District fully supports Value of Water Coalition guidelines for sustainable future 

If Charleston and Toledo were water-quality wake-up calls, Flint is the living nightmare for residents, officials, and the entire country.

The 2014 Elk River chemical spill in Charleston, West Virginia and the 2014 toxic algae outbreak near Toledo, Ohio represented the dangers of taking water-resource protection for granted. As Flint, Michigan residents now rely on bottled water while the safety of and trust in the city’s infrastructure must be restored, the painful reality is one that is decades in the making.

"Drinking water and wastewater utilities systems do and must protect not only the water resources, but the people that rely upon them," said Julius Ciaccia, Chief Executive Officer of the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District.

"We must work together to ensure infrastructure can be safe, trusted, and affordable for future generations."

In response to the Flint, Michigan water crisis, the Value of Water Coalition, a collaboration consisting of private and public water agencies—including the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District—as well as several other stakeholders, recently released a set of guidelines to ensure a sustainable water future for all. Those guidelines, fully supported by the Sewer District, include:

NOTICE: Our administrative offices are closed today

Due to localized fire damage on the 4th floor of the George J. McMonagle Administration Building around 1:00 last night, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District's administration building will be closed today, May 18, 2015.

No injuries were sustained. We are in the process of assessing damage and are ventilating the building throughout the day.

All other facilities will remain open and essential staff are required to report to work. Please contact your supervisor if you have any questions regarding your requirements.

If you have functions or meetings scheduled for the GJM Building Monday, May 18, please check with your meeting coordinator to reschedule or confirm other arrangements.

We are expected to be open as usual tomorrow, May 19, 2015. We will keep you posted as new information becomes available.

#SewerBowl: Who did our K9 Storm pick to win this year's Super Bowl?

Our K9 Storm makes his Super Bowl XLIX prediction: Pats or Seahawks? It's our latest #SewerBowl promotion. Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook all weekend long leading up to and during the big game for the latest water and sewer stats about the Super Bowl.

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NEWS: Puppy with a badge, new K-9 officer Storm will train for safety, outreach

The Sewer District has begun training a canine officer for work in our Security department, for infrastructure safety and community outreach.

Storm, a two-month-old German Shepherd pup, was brought on board December 15. He will be trained this year as an explosive-detection and human-tracking dog, for security, and emergency-recovery purposes at the District and throughout the region.

Besides infrastructure and employee safety—and the potential for regional collaboration with other K-9 units—Storm will be a unique addition to our outreach efforts, helping promote our PUP program and customer engagement at community events.

HISTORY: Why are tunnel boring machines named, and why are they named after women?

Yesterday, our tunnel boring machine Mackenzie—who has been disassembled for more than a month but keeps right on tweeting—received a great question from a follower:

Are all tunnel boring machines named after women? Why?@MomChungtheTBM @BerthaDigsSR99 @BigAlmatheTBM @LadyBirdTBM @MackenzieTBM
— Kimble McCraw (@kimblem) December 12, 2013

With a little help and a link shared by @HMMnews, we were able to find the answer. WNYC's Derek Wang reported earlier this year, covering Seattle's TBM Bertha, that "the tradition and practice of naming tunneling machines dates back to the earliest mining traditions" including devotions to patron saints of safety of underground workers.

VIDEO: Is blasting like surgery? Understanding the safety, precision of controlled explosions

 

We think the comparison works best only in one direction.

If a doctor comes to you and explains his surgery is going to be like an explosion, be anxious. But when a construction manager says an explosion is going to be like surgery, that's different and definitely more comforting.

Lucky for us, Bob's the construction manager, not the surgeon.

We are using controlled blasting to excavate access shafts along our Euclid Creek Tunnel, a major piece of our Project Clean Lake program. This video was shot during a blast last week at our Easterly Wastewater Treatment Plant in Cleveland. Bob Auber explains what the shaft does, why blasting is the safest and most economical way to make our way 200 feet underground, and the precision he's seen over 25 years that made him compare the excavation to surgery.

Related: Mackenzie completes her 18,000-foot underground journey

HISTORY: No power was no problem our plants couldn't handle

"We had people showing up at the plants asking how they could help."

That's how our then Director of Operations Tim Tigue described employees' response to the great blackout of 2003 as staff was dedicated to maintaining service for customers.

During the event, we sampled water on local beaches and streams to ensure proper water quality was maintained, and emergency generator power was redirected at each facility to ensure critical processes were maintained.

Our Westerly plant shown here was without power for 15 hours, but wastewater flow was stored until it could be treated fully.

NEWS: Sewer District, Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office collaborate on regional firing range

Southerly Wastewater Treatment Center, Cuyahoga Heights

Yesterday, the Board of Trustees for the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District approved a resolution allowing the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office to develop and operate a Regional Law Enforcement Firing Range and Training Facility on Sewer District property. This is a 30-year lease agreement.

NEWS: Wastewater treatment plants operating at capacity, fully treating flows triple the average

SUMMARY: Nearly 1.5 billion gallons of sewage receiving full or partial treatment in last 24 hours; 75-million gallon Mill Creek Tunnel filled; CSOs discharging into environment; plants partially treating bypassing flow.

UPDATE 2012 11/01: WKYC visited our Southerly plant yesterday afternoon to feature the plant staff's efforts to manage the enormous volume of flow. Here's the story.

The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District’s three wastewater treatment plants (“Easterly” and “Westerly” in Cleveland, “Southerly” in Cuyahoga Heights) are fully treating flows more than triple the average daily flow. In the last 24 hours, the three wastewater treatment plants fully treated 800 million gallons of wastewater. In addition, another 660 million gallons received primary treatment (solids removal) before being discharged into the environment.

The Sewer District’s 230 miles of interceptor sewers—large sewers that transport sewage to the plants—are transporting additional sewage for treatment. In addition, the Mill Creek Tunnel, capable of holding 75 million gallons of combined sewage, is filled to capacity. Lastly, locally-owned sanitary sewers contain flow as well. There is a tremendous amount of wastewater awaiting treatment.

Although a great deal of sewage is being treated or stored for future treatment, some flow is being discharged into the environment. Combined sewer overflows (CSOs) discharge a mixture of sanitary sewage and stormwater at 126 points throughout the Sewer District’s service area; many of these points have overflowed due to Hurricane Sandy (see photo and video below of CSO along Mill Creek).

#SANDY: Treatment plants prepared for Hurricane Sandy’s impact

A wastewater treatment plant operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District’s three wastewater treatment plants are prepared for Hurricane Sandy’s impacts, anticipating heavy rains throughout Wednesday and increased wastewater flow volumes 24 hours after the rain subsides.

The Sewer District has increased staffing at the facilities in anticipation of higher-than-average flow. All facilities are equipped with emergency generators, and emergency contracts have been activated to ensure generator service throughout the storm. In addition, overnight maintenance crews have been deployed to address problems within the collection system including blockages.

NEWS: Arrest made following suspicious call to Sewer District

Authorities determined the call was placed by an employee of a company working on the Renewable Energy Facility project at our Southerly Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Today, the Cuyahoga Heights Police Department arrested Joshua Petro. The arrest stems from a suspicious call made to the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District's Southerly Wastewater Treatment Plant on Monday, October 22, 2012. Another unnamed Sewer District plant was mentioned in the call, as well. Charges are pending.

Yesterday, at 6:48am, a security officer at Southerly received a phone call allegedly from Petro who indicated that "something would happen at the Southerly Plant and your other plant." The exact type of action to be taken against the plants was not defined in the phone call, nor was the "other plant" identity—Westerly or Easterly—clear.

"Our first concern was to assure that employees, contractors, vendors and visitors were safe," stated Julius Ciaccia, Sewer District Executive Director. "We were able to determine early on in the investigation that safety was not jeopardized."