AKRON — The City of Akron has reached a tentative agreement with state and federal environmental regulators that would eliminate the costliest remaining piece of its long-running sewer overhaul, a treatment facility estimated at more than $300 million.
City officials announced Oct. 7 that Akron struck the deal with the Ohio EPA and the U.S. EPA to remove the requirement to build an Enhanced High Rate Treatment facility from its federal consent decree. Akron contends the plant would deliver little to no additional environmental benefit beyond what the city has already achieved.
The agreement is not yet final. Before it can take effect, the proposal must go through a 30-day public comment period, and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio must approve a fourth amendment to the consent decree, with Akron-based Judge John Adams presiding.
Akron entered the federal consent decree in 2014 to address combined sewer overflows and wet-weather discharges into the Cuyahoga River and its tributaries. Since then, ratepayers have funded roughly $1 billion in sewer system improvements, which the city says produced extraordinary environmental results.
Last year, city leaders warned that being forced to build the treatment facility would trigger additional charges on Akron water customers’ bills. Mayor Shammas Malik said the city is grateful regulators recognized Akron’s progress and agreed residents should not have to spend hundreds of millions more on a facility with minimal added benefit.