YOUNGSTOWN — After failing to convince the federal government to permit it to modify mandated improvements to its wastewater system, Youngstown is asking a federal judge to reduce the scope of the work.

The city’s federal court motion states the cost has “skyrocketed” for a required “wet weather facility” to be built near the wastewater treatment plant to reduce combined sewer overflows.

The project initially was projected in 2002 to cost $62 million and now is estimated at more than $240 million, according to the motion filed by Terrence S. Finn, an attorney with the Roetzel & Andress law firm that represents the city in this case.

The city is asking Christopher A. Boyko, a senior judge for the U.S. Court’s Northern District of Ohio, to permit it to do one or two smaller projects instead of the wet weather facility to better control sewage in heavier rainfalls.

“A significant change in facts or law warrants revision of the decree and that the proposed modification is suitably tailored to the changed circumstances,” Boyko wrote.

In addition to the cost increasing nearly fourfold, the city states a new model shows the “number of overflow events and overflow volume” are “far less compared” with the original data.

The project was initially for 55 yearly overflow events with a total annual volume of 357.5 million gallons. The updated numbers are 40 yearly overflow events with a total of 220 million gallons, according to the court filing.

The combined sewer overflow project at the confluence of Crab Creek and the Mahoning River with an interceptor sewer that collects about 75% to 80% of the city’s sewage flow before it hits the wastewater treatment plant. The work is supposed to reduce overflow events to four per year.

“There are now other viable and cost-effective options for controlling the overflow” that weren’t available years ago, the city’s filing states.

“To rectify this problem, Youngstown is requesting a modification” with a “cost-effective project for reducing overflows,” according to the city motion.

The city motion says a storage basin to hold flow during a storm event and then release it back into the system after the storm event is one option. The other is adding a less expensive treatment facility at the city’s wastewater treatment plant “that would provide the same level of control,” according to the court filing.

The city didn’t provide a cost estimate for the options but said it could do one or both projects.

The city added that it is doing two other projects, at a cost of about $20 million, that will be finished by January 2026 and reduce sewer overflows.

CONSENT DECREE

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency originally had ordered the city in 2002 to do $310 million worth of work, but it was negotiated down to $160 million in 2014 with the expectation it would be finished in 20 years.

The city has tried to get that price down further, but federal authorities have rejected those requests.

The first phase was upgrades to the city’s wastewater treatment plant that have been completed.

The initial estimate was $37.3 million, but the city court filing said it cost Youngstown $70 million.

That work helped reduce the sewer overflows that would be part of the wet water facility, the city’s court filing states.

The wet water facility was supposed to be Phase Two of the work and was required to start Feb. 7, 2022. The work hasn’t begun.

The city’s board of control on Thursday approved $4.8 million of design work on the third phase of the project: an interceptor sewer project to keep wastewater from 13 lines from flowing into Mill Creek Park.

Design work was supposed to start July 11, 2020, and construction was to start this April 5.

The city missed the deadline, but wrote in the court motion that it would have a compressed schedule and finish 15 months earlier than the initial time.

Also, that project was estimated to cost $47.7 million and will now cost $72.5 million, according to the court filing.

The city raised sewer rates by 259% since 2001 to pay for the wastewater upgrades as part of the consent decree, according to a statement included in the city’s filing from Charles Shasho, deputy director of public works. It will need to raise rates again to pay for the two other phases, according to Shasho.

ONGOING DISPUTE

The city had discussions with the federal EPA about the ongoing dispute over the consent decree without any movement.

The U.S. Department of Justice on Sept. 29 demanded half of a $1,479,000 penalty from Youngstown because the city “defaulted” on following through with federally-mandated wastewater improvements for more than two years. After the first 60 days, there is a daily $6,000 penalty.

Pedro Segura, a trial attorney with the DOJ’s environmental enforcement division, informed city officials in a Sept. 29 letter that the department had assessed the penalty for not starting two of the three required projects.

Half of the penalties — $739,500 — was to be paid to the federal EPA with the Ohio EPA allowed to make demand for the other half as per the city’s federal consent decree to make the wastewater improvements, Segura wrote in the letter.

“The United States and the state reserve their rights to assess and collect further penalties and pursue added remedies for these violations,” Segura wrote. “To be clear, the United States believes that Youngstown has continued to violate the 2002 consent decree since June 30, 2021, and the United States reserves the right to assess further stipulated penalties that have accrued since then.”

Segura wrote that the city “defaulted on several of those requirements (in the agreed upon plan) and missed a number of enforceable milestones” starting in early 2020. The city met with the EPA on June 30, 2021, to request an extension of the missed deadline, he wrote.

“That meeting took place more than a year after Youngstown had started missing enforceable deadlines,” Segura wrote.

In the letter, Segura wrote: “Youngstown has continued to experience unacceptable discharges of untreated sewage to nearby receiving waters, including the Mahoning River and Mill Creek Park,” and Youngstown disclosed in a 2022 report that it had 1,040 combined sewer overflow “discharge events which resulted in discharges of approximately 730 million gallons of untreated effluent.”

Segura wrote there is a 30-day period under the consent decree for Youngstown to seek resolution for the penalties and violations.

On Oct. 2, the city invoked the dispute resolution procedure in the consent decree.

The Vindicator on Jan. 30 made a public records request — and has followed up numerous times — for any documents between the city / Roetzel & Andress and federal agencies about the ongoing dispute. The request for the correspondence hasn’t been filled as of Monday.

Finn wrote in the city motion: “While the parties made some limited progress during informal dispute resolution, in early February, U.S. EPA again cut off the discussion. In doing so, it renewed its demand for excessive stipulated penalties, along with a demand that Youngstown move forward with the WWF (wet water facility) project despite the fact that the project is significantly oversized and no longer effective. In seeking relief from the court, Youngstown is requesting court approval to replace the WWF project with a control measure that is cost effective and will not result in wasted infrastructure. Youngstown also (is) seeking a finding that (it is not) liable for stipulated penalties.”

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