Akron plan would fund sanitary sewer upgrades in Peninsula, Lakemore and Springfield

To avoid spending $209 million on another court-mandated sewer project, Akron is offering financial assistance to Springfield Township and the villages of Peninsula and Lakemore to help fix their sanitary problems.

With one major project left in its 2014 federal consent decree, Akron administrators are appealing to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to replace the construction of a $209 million wastewater treatment facility on the Little Cuyahoga River with bacterial treatment at a nearby storage basin and assistance for neighboring communities with water pollution problems in the Cuyahoga River watershed.

The Ohio EPA has endorsed Akron's plan. But the U.S. EPA, which will not comment on the ongoing enforcement action, is holding the city to a strict zero-overflow requirement in the court agreement signed by the city, the state and federal EPAs, and the U.S. Department of Justice. Akron is proposing it be allowed up to three overflows in a typical year, though the city has not had to overflow wastewater from its combined stormwater and sewage system for almost 500 days.

The city has not priced out the cost of upgrades that would convert its 10 million-gallon Cuyahoga Street Storage Facility to a chemical treatment site that would take overflow from the recently completed Ohio Canal Interceptor Tunnel and disinfect it before direct discharge into the Little Cuyahoga River.

Here's what Akron and Summit County are planning for septic issues in Peninsula and around Springfield Lake in Lakemore and the Sawyerwood community of Springfield Township.

Peninsula needs drinking water and sewage treatment

Akron and the county are designing a plan to construct a wastewater treatment facility in Peninsula, a small village of about 500 people nestled in the heart of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and frequented by tourists.

The county and Ohio EPA, which issued findings and orders, found high levels of E. coli in the village's stormwater drains and catch basins in 2018 and 2020. And many local businesses and residents truck drinking water into the village where 126 residential, 21 commercial and five institutional properties rely on private water wells and septic systems.

County Executive Ilene Shapiro recently set aside $7.5 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to deal with the sanitary issue.

"We've been trying to find a solution for the village for about 30 years, but it's always come up to be unaffordable," said Michael Vinay, director of sanitary sewer services for Summit County.

The plan for the village came up short, again. So, the county engaged the city of Akron to explore a sewage treatment option. Public Service Director Chris Ludle said the original plan was to build sewer lines to the Akron Water Reclamation Facility about 7 miles up the Cuyahoga River on Akron-Peninsula Road. But the low volume of sewage and need for pumping stations made that plan also economically unfeasible.

Ludle and Vinay said the new plan is for Akron to help construct a self-contained facility that can treat 60,000 gallons of wastewater daily in the village while the county addresses water distribution concerns.

What goes in Springfield Lake ends up in Akron

Springfield Lake empties into an outlet that flows through Goodyear Heights in Akron and into the Little Cuyahoga River, which flows into the Cuyahoga River.

From 2006 to 2019, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has measured high concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus in the lake amid algal blooms that deprive underwater plants of oxygen and release toxins that can kill fish and harm humans. A Springfield Lake Task Report in 2020 linked the algal blooms to stormwater runoff and overflowing or failing septic systems.

Officials have identified two potential contamination sources: the Village of Lakemore, where a pump station needs rehabilitated or replaced and sewer lines may be leaching into the ground and in need of new lining; and the residential Sawyerwood neighborhood of Springfield Township south of Ellet and north of the lake.

Vinay and Ludle said a study is examining the 385 septic systems in the Sawyerwood area. "If the study comes back and says, yes, indeed, it is an issue, we would look to provide centralized sanitary sewer collection for that neighborhood," Vinay said.

Lakemore, where sewer infrastructure exists but needs improvement, already sends sewage for treatment to Akron.

Lakemore is under an EPA order to replace its sanitary sewer, employ a certified wastewater system operator, conduct a sewer system evaluation and develop operating and emergency plans. Akron's proposal identifies Lakemore as a "small community with extremely limited financial resources" and an 80-year-old sanitary sewer system.

"The entire system needs to be rehabilitated," Akron said in its proposal.

Akron would contribute financially to overhaul the sewer system in Lakemore.

Reach reporter Doug Livingston at dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3792.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron looks to build sewers in Lakemore, Springfield and Peninsula