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Water Division ActivitiesORSANCO Program and Finance Committee
On Tuesday March 19, Water Division's Associate Director for Watershed and Community-based Environmental Protection participated in a meeting of the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO) Program and Finance committee in Cincinnati, Ohio. The purpose of the meeting was to review and recommend adjustments to the strategic plan of the Commission and the fiscal year 1997 ORSANCO work plan and budget. In addition, State contributions to the Commission for FY 1999 were proposed in the meeting.
It was noted by staff that the ORSANCO program had shifted over the past several years from one that emphasized the base "106" water pollution control program to one that focused 2/3 of its budget on special projects, such as the Greater Cincinnati wet weather pollution control study and the Ohio River watershed Protection Project.
Ohio EPA Self-Assessment
The Ohio self-assessment has arrived and members of the Water Division's Ohio Team are compiling comments. This self-assessment is an evaluation of Ohio's State programs and the progress they have made in protecting the environment during the previous year. It was submitted to USEPA as a part of the Environmental Performance Partnership Agreement (EnPPA) process. Ohio is moving forward with an EnPPA for FY 1997 and is excited about the prospect of combining their grants into one Performance Partnership Grant (PPG) under this process. Authorization for PPGs is still pending in Congress.
Rouge River Watershed Authority Hearing
On Tuesday, April 9, 1996, Judge Feikens conducted a hearing in Detroit to take comments on a proposal under consideration that would establish an intercounty drainage board for the Rouge River Watershed. The proposal was developed at his request by representatives of Wayne, Oakland and Washenaw Counties and the City of Detroit in consultation with representatives of MDEQ, USEPA and the court. All were present, with counsel at the hearing, as were representatives of many communities within the Basin.
As proposed, the authority would assume a planning and information gathering, monitoring, modeling, mapping function for the watershed and would also be responsible for stream maintenance functions, such as bank stabilization and debris removal.
Comments from the communities generally expressed concern about the cost of pollution controls for combined sewer overflows and storm water and their ability to pay. The next step is a meeting with the court for all those interested in the proposal on May 9, 1996.
The 10th Regional Operator Trainer Conference With Microbiological Theme
April 1, 1996 was the start of an outstanding conference of operator trainer at Deer Creek State Park at Mt. Sterling, Ohio. It began on Monday with a Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) course mainly oriented to wastewater treatment plant operators, but operator trainers from Indiana, Ohio and the Region were there to increase their awareness of a new developing technology which has been showing up with increasing frequency in the Region. Mr. Mervyn Goronszy, an internationally renowned specialist on SBR technology, flew in from California to give a nuts and bolts presentation on operating experiences at these facilities.
In all, 38 professionals from five out of 6 states, Lee Ann Johnson from the Twin Cities Metro WWTP, the Region and a host of Ohio Environmental Protection Agency field inspectors participated in events from Tuesday to Thursday which included:
This conference provided many trainers and evaluators with tools to provide quality onsite assistance at municipal wastewater treatment plants.
Rouge River Wet River Demonstration
U.S. EPA representatives attended the second of three meetings with the Wayne County contractors on monitoring/modeling for the Rouge River National Wet Weather Demonstration Project. The watershed assessment and analysis of the river's response to pollutants are being examined for data quality and a second, dry weather model, suitable for regulatory work, is being performed as required by MDEQ and the Region. The above tasks will produce a high quality assessment of the river and its response to wet weather impacts.
Risk Modeling Training
Region 5 sponsored a training session by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) of their new model RIVRISK, which models total impacts of power plant emissions. The model will simulate various levels of risk to adults, children and wildlife from discharges of contaminants to air, surface and ground water. The simplifying assumptions of the model make it suitable for a preliminary screening tool for risks to determine gross levels of impact. Attendees included a modeler from Ohio EPA, Risk Assessors from Superfund, OSEA and RCRA, and Water Division. In the interest of accurate science, attendees are writing comments on the methods used in the model to assess risk, determine concentrations in water and bioaccumulation factors, which differ from EPA methods. The workshop opened a dialogue with EPRI on the validity of their modeling techniques which will benefit both the Region and the users of the model.
Great Lakes Water Quality Initiative (GLI)
One year after EPA published its Final Water Quality Guidance for the Great Lakes System (GLI) in the Federal Register, all eight Great Lakes States are in the process of developing conforming rules. The Great Lakes States and Tribes now have until March of 1997 to adopt State/Tribal standards provisions that are consistent with and as protective as those set forth in the final GLI. Ohio and Indiana, the two Region 5 States located partially within the Lake Erie basin, have formed Technical Advisory Committees (TACs) with State and local partners to discuss State regulatory changes that need to be made in order to meet the requirements of the GLI. Region 5 has been a regular participant in Indiana's monthly TAC meetings, and is participating on an as-need basis in Ohio. Ohio plans to adopt standards that meet GLI requirements by March of 1997 and Indiana intends to have their rules adopted by December of 1996.
Region 5 is also establishing a Clearinghouse to assist States and Tribes in developing the criteria and values called for by the GLI provisions. Staff Provides Hazard Mitigation Assistance in Northwest Ohio
On July 11, 1996 a representative from U.S. EPA's NPDES Support and Technical Assistance Branch participated in an Interagency Hazard Mitigation Team (IHMT). This team was assembled by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in response to Presidential disaster declaration No. FEMA-1122-DR-OH. A representative of U.S. EPA and Williams County joined up with the other team members from various Federal and State of Ohio agencies when they arrived in the Village of Edon following visits to several other communities in NW Ohio that had suffered flood damage. The Village's consulting engineer led a tour of the wastewater treatment plant. Flash flooding had lifted the equalization basin off its concrete pad, breaking the fasteners, and the extent of damage had not yet been fully assessed. In addition, four homes had experienced first floor flooding from nearby Bear Creek, as well as overland sheet-flow and several more had basement flooding.
Following the tour of Edon, the Team travelled to Bryan. Flood damage in Bryan included about 50-55 homes and about 2 businesses. This resulted from rising waters in Prairie Creek/Ditch 40, Pigeon Run and Lynn Run, as well as storm sewer backup. Flood waters at the police and fire training facility reached a depth of 8 feet. The Bryan wastewater treatment facility suffered damage to its pumps, as well as electrical damage, as a result of water leakage through doors.
A final report will provide background, descriptions of damage, recommendations for mitigation and other follow up work and suggestions as to which local, State and Federal agencies should carry out this work (or fund it), as well as a list of IHMT contacts. Completion of this report is expected around the end of July.
Northwest Indiana Advance Identification of Wetlands Representatives of U.S. EPA's Office of Information Services met with the Northwest Indiana Regional Planning Commission (NIRPC) in Portage, Indiana, on July 18, 1996, to discuss the Advanced Identification of Wetlands (ADID) project for Northwest Indiana. USEPA is providing NIRPC with funding for the ADID under the Coastal Environmental Management grant program.
An ADID is an inventory, functional assessment, and mapping of wetlands in a given geographic area. The ADID final product will be a mapped inventory and data base, in digital and hard copy forms, which will be available to community planners, developers, landowners, conservationists, regulators, researchers, and the general public. The inventory will be developed through a cooperative process by interested parties.
Several of the potential participants attended the meeting, including staff from the Lake County Surveyor's Department, the National Biological Survey, Indiana University Northwest, the Kankakee River Basin Commission, the Duneland Group, and the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC). CTIC, with funds from USEPA under an IAG with NRCS, is contracted to work on the ADID. Partner agencies such as the US ACOE, the USFWS, and the IDNR, are expected to contribute staff time to the project.
The ADID will provide science-based information to decision makers for a variety of applications. Potential and intended uses include: the development of watershed management plans; wetland protection and restoration strategies; water quality protection; wetland avoidance; locating potential mitigation bank sites; storm water control strategies; transportation planning; sustainable development; voluntary land stewardship opportunities; buffer sites for State and Federal nature preserves; research opportunities; and open-space preservation. At the Federal level, a goal of the ADID process is to shorten wetland permit processing time and to improve the predictability of the Clean Water Act 404 regulatory program.
Onsite Assistance Round 2 at Fostoria, Ohio During the December-January furlough, the U.S. EPA was again requested to provide onsite assistance at the Fostoria, Ohio, wastewater treatment facility. The U.S. EPA had previously provided assistance to help resolve operating problems during 1992-1994, and had addressed many performance limiting factors. However, major plant construction was necessary to fully address particularity the solids handling area. After construction was completed, performance problems remained.
The Ohio EPA (OEPA) was asked by U.S. EPA and the State agreed to continue assistance due to the uncertainty of U.S. EPA funding for travel. U.S. EPA provided onsite support to the OEPA from both the Water Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (WECA) Branch, and the NPDES Support and Technical Assistance (NSTA) Branch. WECA provided assistance in the solids handling area and NSTA provided support in operational areas.
Major problems identified included hydraulic problems related to primary clarifier/combined sewer overflow expansion and secondary clarifier flow patterns. Two clarifiers were dye tested and several improvements were made in hydraulic control which will immediately improve performance.
The Mayor, City Safety Service Director and Superintendent were very appreciative of our assistance. The community will continue to work with OEPA to address remaining performance limiting factors, and Val Aistars of the Water Enforcement/Compliance Assurance Branch on solids handling concerns/requirements. Last Update: October 25, 1996 |
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