Protect the Ohio - Vote No, ORSANCO!

Sierra Club takes a strong stance against ORSANCO's lowered water quality standards for the Ohio River

The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO); the interstate compact designed to protect the Ohio River, is planning to lower Water Quality Standards set  for as early as June 2006.  This means more raw sewage polluting our local rivers, lakes and streams. 

The Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati (MSD) is bound to honor a $1.5 billion Consent Decree designed to eliminate the vast amounts of sewage overflows currently polluting our local waterways.  The Consent Decree was settled upon in Federal Court after the US EPA, OEPA and the Department of Justice sued MSD for violating the Clean Water Act, in 2003. 

If the current water quality standards are not expected to be met, those standards may be lowered in order to comply with federal law.  ORSANCO is now in the process of reviewing current Water Quality Standards which they plan to lower as early as June 2006.  This is NOT a solution!  Lowering Water Quality Standards will allow more chemicals, sewage and pathogenic organisms into our environment, threatening public health and destroying rivers and wildlife.

 Please help us express our concern and opposition by writing to ORSANCO:

• Just because wet weather occurs, it does not mean that people do not or should not be able to go near the water due to public health risks
• Fish and other river dwellers will be dramatically affected by increased levels of bacteria and pathogens during wet weather conditions
• Surrounding plant and wildlife will suffer accordingly
• MSD should fix the problem and stop using our rivers as giant toilets – it will not just go away on its own
• Cost benefit analysis is invalid – public health is priceless
• Pollution levels remain elevated long after the rain has ensued
• This is a dangerous trend which must stop being viewed as an alternative “solution”
• People do not want to see raw sewage and toilet paper floating in their local waterways
• Odors coming from raw sewage are disgusting and make people sick
• This sets a horrible example for the rest of the nation, and puts the community in a bad light
• Lowered water quality standards decrease a home’s property value and diminishes a community’s sense of pride
• Unattractive environments and lax policies, which sacrifice public health, decreases tourism, affecting the community’s economy

Please mail your letters to:

ORSANCO Headquarters, 5735 Kellogg Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45228

* You can also post your comments on the web at http://www.orsanco.org/contact/feedback.asp

 IMPORTANT: ORSANCO will be having another series of public hearings this coming spring.  Public attendance and participation is crucial.  Please check local newspapers, TV announcements and the web for future dates and times. 

For more information contact Christine Robertson at christine.robertson@sierraclub.org or (513) 861-4001 ext. 17

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The Clean Water Network