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The Sierra Club’s
fight to stop Columbus from illegally dumping raw sewage
and industrial waste into local rivers and basements is
currently being waged on two legal fronts.
First, the Club
is asking for “intervention” in the Consent Decree
between Ohio EPA and Columbus. This decree is the “enforcement
agreement” worked out between OEPA and the violator,
Columbus. After 30 years of not enforcing the law, OEPA
met with Columbus only after the Club’s first 60-Day
Notice of Intent to Sue was sent to the city. In a
two-month period, between the time the Club’s Notice
was sent and a suit could be filed under the Clean Water
Act, OEPA worked out a plan (Consent Decree) that it
claims will fix 30 years of Columbus’ sewer
infrastructure attrition. The real purpose of the Decree
was to put something on paper that could be called
enforcement. Having enforcement would prevent the Club
from filing suit. So the Decree, or “remedy” is on
the books. But without citizen oversight, the Decree
could actually mean little more than business-as-usual.
Intervention means that the Club wants the right to
participate in meetings and be kept abreast of what is
happening, to see if the terms of the Decree are being
followed. Judge Crawford of the Franklin County Court of
Common Pleas closed the Decree without allowing the
court or anyone else any continuing oversight. The Club
is appealing this decision in the 10th District Court of
Appeals.
After the Consent
Decree was filed, the Club immediately sent two more
60-Day Notices for other sewer violations. OEPA, under
what we believe was pressure from US EPA, did not
negotiate with Columbus. Now those cases are filed in
federal court. Columbus, an entity whose politicians and
bureaucrats are not familiar with working with the
public, is adopting a “scorched earth” no-compromise
policy and attempting to get the cases dismissed as a
grasping-at-straws strategy. Columbus is clearly in
violation of the law, so the merits of the suits are not
in question. This is where we currently stand.
Columbus and Ohio
EPA are being hit from several sides by citizen
activism. In this newsletter Jeff Cox writes about the
petition to take away enforcement authority from OEPA.
This has OEPA softened enough to make some stabs at
enforcement. OEPA has just given Columbus a 5:1 sewage
reduction notice. This means that Columbus will have to
remove 5 gallons (of water leaking into sanitary sewers)
for each new gallon of sewage they plan to add. If
enforced, this is a major victory for the Club and the
environment. It will not only lessen sewage overflows
but will also put some brakes on sprawl.
Paul Dumouchelle writes in
another article about Columbus adopting the PEER
initiative petition to halt sewer expansion in the Darby
for 2 years. This will allow the city to do some
planning for development in that sensitive and pristine
area. Action plans of local watershed organizations,
such as the Alum Creek
Action Plan notice in this newsletter, are strongly
advocating cleanup of sewage overflows into their
creeks.
Index
to articles on the Columbus sewers issue.
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the Club is asking for “intervention” in the
Consent Decree between Ohio EPA and Columbus.
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