Sewage and Our Kids: How Much is Too Much?

Can you really keep kids away from the neighborhood stream? Hardly! Do you want to keep kids away from it? No! Kids enjoy the water whether they are fishing, exploring, or just skipping stones. It is a natural part of growing up.

But the streams in many of Indiana’s older neighborhoods often contain raw sewage from overflowing sewer systems. The bacteria count is often more than 100 times the standard. And no one should be exposed to “floatables.” These overflows threaten kids as well as the integrity of the neighborhoods.  The best estimates are that Indiana's 105 CSO communities release more than 20 billion gallons of sewage to Indiana streams each year.  Many of these systems overflow into neighborhood streams that children play in even in light rains.  The solutions are tough to find.  Preliminary estimates are that it will take $4 billion in Indiana alone.

Beyond combined sewer overflows, Indiana has a serious problem with sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) and treatment plant bypasses.   In 2004, Indiana communities reported more than 2000 events totaling more than one billion gallons.  30% of the reports did not include estimated gallons so the actual numbers are higher.  30% of the reported events and 220 millions gallons appear to be unrelated to wet weather.  44% of the reported events were probably SSOs.  Both are likely violations of their permits.  One town had more than 8300 gallons of sewage discharges per resident!  

Therefore, protecting kids from the raw sewage comes from combined sewage overflows has become a top priority for Improving Kids’ Environment.  In association with other environmental groups, especially Sierra Club and Hoosier Environmental Council, we realized success and failures as described below.

• Right-to-Know:  If families know about a sewage overflow, they can take immediate steps to avoid the diseases by keeping away from the streams.  In addition, they can begin to be a voice for change in their community.  Therefore, IKE has been an ardent advocate for timely and effective notice to the public when sewage is in their neighborhood streams.  Its efforts have yielded the following:

  • Adoption of a state rule requiring CSO communities to notify the public when combined sewer overflows a likely to occur.  Public notification plans developed by CSO communities were to be fully implemented by February 7, 2004.  For more information.

  • Promotion of a state rule requiring communities to notify the public when sanitary sewer overflows and treatment plant bypasses occur in their community.  In 2003, the Indiana Water Pollution Control Board called on IDEM to develop this rule.  IDEM agreed to begin discussions but no discussions have been held. 

  • Got IDEM to agree in 2004 to include public notification of downstream water users in its Agreed Orders with communities struggling with regular sewers overflows.  Despite the agreement, a 2005 review of several order indicates that IDEM is not requiring public notification.

  • Called on IDEM to publish on its website the sewage overflow events.  Communities report these events to IDEM within 24 hours of their occurrence.  But IDEM has refused to make the information available on the web much less in a searchable database to effective help a resident wondering if an overflow occurred, whether it was properly reported and what caused it.  As a result, IKE has had to publish annual updates drawn from IDEM's database. 

   

• No Net Increase in Sewage Overflows:  Many sewage overflows are the result of Indiana's dramatic suburban growth.  Developers were allowed to tap into the existing sewers without careful consideration of the accumulative impact on the sewer capacity.   None were expected to pay extra fees to support long-term upgrades.  IDEM believed that Indiana's rules did not allow it to consider the impact of new sewer connections on combined sewer overflows.  IKE has found that the original combined sewers were designed to handle a rainfall of at least 0.75".  In 2000, growth resulted in many communities having overflows with 0.1" of rain.  This effort ran into the gauntlet of IDEM and many cities unwilling to address the issue and developers adamantly opposed to paying their fair share. Our efforts yielded the following:
  • Challenged a sewer connection permit issued by IDEM in 2000 for a large development in Fort Wayne that tapped into an overloaded sanitary and combined sewer system.  The appeal was rejected by the Environmental Law Judge because the court believed that the problem was with the City's Certification of Capacity. 
  • Gathered more than 3000 signatures on a petition in 2001 to force the Indiana Water Pollution Control Board to hear a specific proposal to ensure "no net increase in sewer overflows from combined sewers"
  • Convinced the Indiana Water Pollution Control Board to hold six hearings on the issue across the state in 2001.  In 2002, the Board acknowledged that sewer connections contributed to combined sewer overflows, acknowledged that the state's regulations were inadequate to deal with the problem, and called on IDEM to immediately initiate rulemaking to correct the rules.  Despite agreeing, IDEM need began rulemaking. 
  • Published a report in July 2002 describing IKE's research of the more than 11,000 sewer connection permits IDEM had issued since 1994. 
  • Reached a formal agreement with the City of Indianapolis in 2004 regarding sewer connections contributing to combined sewer overflows and got a commitment from the City to fairly address the issue in its revision to its Sanitary Sewer Standards revision in 2005.

   

• Environmental Justice and Civil Rights:  Combined sewers are typically found in older urban areas.   The sewers were initially designed to handle rainfalls of greater than 0.75".  However, urban sprawl resulted in new sanitary sewers connections that increased the frequency, magnitude and duration of the combined sewer overflows.  In addition, inadequate maintenance on the old sewers aggravated the problem.  In 1999, IKE evaluated the situation in the City of Indianapolis and found that minority communities bore the brunt of the CSOs. 

  Therefore, IKE filed administrative civil rights complaint on October 17, 1999 against the City of Indianapolis for the disproportionate impacts to African American communities resulting from the operation of the City's sewer system.  The Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis, Hoosier Environmental Council, Sierra Club - Heartlands Group, and Mapleton - Fall Creek Neighborhood Association join in the complaint.

  EPA accepted the three allegations for investigation on October 12, 2001.  The parties agreed to suspend EPA's investigations on December 3, 2001.  The complaint was resolved in October 2006 when USEPA, the US Department of Justice and the City of Indianapolis announced that they reached agreement on a long-term control plan to control CSOs.  IKE and other parties to the complaint were involved in discussions that led to the agreement.  The plan has been made enforceable through a Consent Decree.  See www.indycleanstreams.org for a copy of the city's plan and consent decree.

  IKE also supported similar civil rights evaluation of sewer systems in other large communities in the United States.

• Long-Term Control Plans:  Ensure that Long-Term Control Plans are adopted consistent with state and federal guidance in a manner to ensure maximum public input. IKE's efforts yielded the following:
  • Supported Senate Enrolled Act 431 in 2000 to lay the statutory groundwork for action.
  • Helped IDEM to develop LTCP guidance as required by statute in 2000.
  • Developed in July 2000 a scoring system to evaluate the quality of Long-Term Control Plans adopted by CSO communities.  Hoosier Environmental Council, Sierra Club - Hoosier Chapter, Izaak Walton League - Indiana Division, Valley Watch and Save the Dunes Council joined in the effort.  
  • Reviewed and commented on many of the LTCPs that were submitted to IDEM.
  • Published report indicating how CSO communities are doing in submitting required monthly CSO discharge monitoring reports in June 2002.
  • Published Report:  Indiana Cities Report 3.5 Billion Gallons of Sewage Bypasses & Overflows in 6500 Events Since 1997
  • Published report on the non-wet weather CSO bypasses and overflows in July 2002.
  • Provided the public with periodical progress reports through newsletters.  As of November 2004, IDEM has only approved one LTCP for the 105 communities.
  • Supported Senate Enrolled Act 620 in 2005 which relaxed the recreational water quality standards for CSO communities.  The new standards would be met after full implementation of the LTCP.  SEA-620 provided mechanisms to allow CSO communities to implement their plan when implementation lasted longer than the duration of its five-year NPDES permit.

   

• Education:  In 1999, the public did not understand the severity of Indiana problem with sewage in our streams.  IDEM took a lax approach to the issue that sent a powerful message to many communities.  Since then, IDEM and communities have made significant strides.  These efforts have yielded the following:

  • Coordinated a 20-minute multi-media presentation that included a digital slideshow at four October 1999 public meetings on the City of Indianapolis’ wastewater discharge permit/variance. The Sierra Club, Audubon Society, and Hoosier Environmental Council joined IKE in making the presentation. This is apparently the first time that IDEM has allowed concerned citizens to make a formal presentation at a public meeting on a permit. The presentation effectively conveyed to the hundreds of participants the severity of the problem and got enthusiastic support.

  • Coordinated a Hoosier Health:  Sewage in Our Streams conference on January 19, 2001 to discuss the public health impacts of combined sewer overflows and failing septic systems.

  • Publication of Sewage in Our Streams newsletter from February 2002 to April 2004.  The topics have been integrated into IKE's General Newsletter.  

  • Publication of Indiana Cities Report 3.5 Billion Gallons of Sewage Bypasses and Overflows in 6500 Events Since 1997 on July 10, 2002 by IKE's Katy Kintzele and Tom Neltner

  • Periodic publication of Sanitary Sewer Overflow and Treatment Plant Bypass reports submitted to IDEM. 

  • Publication of Sewage in Our Streams newsletter from February 2002 to April 2004.  The topics have been integrated into IKE's General Newsletter.  

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