Below
is Mr Adkins’ recent
post
found
on
the newly
revised
city website.
(It
wasn’t easy to find the
Manager’s Blog.
The “site tools” button, in tiny type at the bottom of the page,
gives
you a drop down menu and you must chose “site map” and scroll
down the
list
of contents to City Manager. Also under
site map is the
Financial Transparency Portal under Finance Dept, if you are
interested in trying to decipher it.
Adkins is
telling
his
story with
a typical slanted spin. He
describes the news station’s story
as
inaccurate.
Stories are not necessarily based in fact. The
facts are contained in the Consent Decree at
https://www.courthousenews.com/deal-with-feds-requires-ohio-city-to-fix-sewer-system/" rel="nofollow - https://www.courthousenews.com/deal-with-feds-requires-ohio-city-to-fix-sewer-system/
Here’s
Adkins’ story with comments
highlighted in italics.
https://citymanagermiddletown.com/2018/02/14/epa-sewer-agreement-information/" rel="nofollow - EPA
Sewer Agreement Information
https://citymanagermiddletown.com/2018/02/14/epa-sewer-agreement-information/" rel="nofollow - FEBRUARY
14, 2018
Over
the weekend, an inaccurate story
came out regarding the Long Term Control Plan we agreed upon with the
EPA. The news station (what
news station?)
who
posted the article has since updated the story
with an Editor’s Note (where?),
but we know there are questions and want to clarify as much as
possible.
This
is all part of the Long Term Control Plan that we’ve been talking
about as a city and with the EPA for over ten years. The
lawsuit discussed in the story is the
completion of the process, not the beginning. The Consent Decree in
the lawsuit represents the completed deal.
The
news story seems to indicate that
the city has long been in litigation and has paid lawyers and court
costs unnecessarily for over ten years, just to avoid doing
what they will have to do eventually anyway --- that is separate the
sewers. The Long Term Control Plan is a detour, a plan
doomed for failure and a waste of
more time and money since it doesn’t separate the sewers.
Also the Consent Decree does not specifically say Adkins’ Long
Term Control Plan is a feasible solution. If Middletown tries to
implement the Long Term Control Plan and it fails as a solution (and
such folly surely will fail), the city will be fined heavily again
and will be back to square one after having wasted more time and
money on Adkins’ folly instead of just complying with EPA orders to
separate the sewers.
Every
city in Ohio that was built in the same time frame as Middletown is
going through this process and also has had to address these issues.
That was the standard construction of sewers at the time. It was the
best practice in place at the time, over 100 years ago. If you look
at my earlier blog https://citymanagermiddletown.com/2017/11/30/sewer-rate-increases/" rel="nofollow - posts ,
you
can see the large number of cities that have been or are going
through this exact same process.
What’s
unique about Middletown compared to other cities is the
long
term failure
to comply with EPA mandates
in
a timely fashion and misappropriating
3
enterprise funds --- water, sewer, and storm water sewer. It is
illegal for these enterprise funds to be used for anything other than
their designated
purpose.
Yet,
Council repeats
this illegal deed on a regular basis under the
guidance
of
Mr Adkins. The
enterprise funds collected
on water bills (some
since
the 1970’s),
amounting
to hundreds of millions of dollars ---
have all
disappeared!!!.
The
EPA didn’t file the suit until now because we
were working together to
resolve the situation. Every Ohio city that has already executed
their consent decree but hasn’t fully completed their obligations
is still likely in violation in some manner with EPA regulations.
The
city worked with EPA because the court has finally forced them to
comply.
We
issued a press release in December to further clarify the actions
being taken:
For
Immediate Release
Agreement
to Clean Water Act Proposed Consent Decree by Middletown, Ohio
Middletown,
OH (December 21, 2017) — The City of Middletown, Ohio has agreed to
the terms of a proposed consent decree with the United States and the
State of Ohio to resolve threatened U.S. EPA and Ohio EPA enforcement
claims under the Clean Water Act due primarily to combined sewer
overflows (CSO’s). The proposed consent decree includes three major
work components: 1.) Implementation of a Long-Term Control Plan
(LTCP) to reduce CSO’s into the Great Miami River; 2.) Commitment
to planned sewer system rehabilitation; and 3.) Commitment to planned
waste water treatment plant (WWTP) rehabilitation. All of these
components are to be implemented over 25 years (by 2043). The
City’s agreement allows the City to avoid protracted, costly and
disruptive federal court litigation, the results of which would be
uncertain.
The
city has already incurred “costly and disruptive federal court
litigation” due to non-compliance with EPA mandates over the last
40 plus years. Fines levied for non-compliance over the years are
probably unpaid as well.
Again,
the EPA is not concerned with feasibility of Adkins’ Long Term
Control Plan. The EPA neither condemns nor approves the folly of
Adkins’ Long Term Control Plan. The Consent Decree does require the
sewer separation, halt of pollution of the water supply and rehab of
the entire sewer system. The EPA won’t dictate how to achieve
this. But failure is not acceptable.
“This
mutual agreement allows the City to prioritize critical
infrastructure improvements to the sewer system and treatment plant
that were already planned
while improving water quality in the Great Miami River,” said City
Manager Doug Adkins. “These improvements align with the City’s
overall revitalization efforts to make Middletown a great place to
live, work, and grow, transitioning from our bright past to our
brighter future.”
Please
note that
the
initial
infrastructure improvements
were planned in
the 1970’s, and were to be paid for with the addition of a
mandated
“sewer charge” to the water bills for
a period of only
10
years which
would
collect $74 million to completely pay for the project.
But
the improvement project was never initiated and the collected,
mandated funds were illegally siphoned off, misappropriated and never
returned. The
funds are gone.
Forty
years later the original, mandated sewer charge is still on the water
bill plus
an additional storm water sewer charge which will be increased
annually over the next 25 years to satisfy the Consent Decree handed
down by the court. What’s
to stop city hall and Mr Adkins’ continuing misuse of these funds?
It’s a matter of record in Council meetings that Adkins has
successfully advocated that Council transfer funds from all
3 enterprise
funds
---
water, sewer and
storm water sewer
funds to illegally
pay
for street repairs.
Proposed
Consent Decree Agreement Basics
Long-Term
Control Plan
Construction
of two large storage tanks and associated pump stations
Storm
Water Redirection Project including new storm sewer and pump station
Green
Infrastructure Project to divert storm water flow tributary to the
Combined Sewer System into a regional detention basin
Estimated
Cost $112 million
First,
it is totally impractical to think that a storage tank or two will
contain water run off (from the entire surface of Middletown) due to
a particularly heavy rain possibly totaling millions of gallons.
Where would this pair of (insufficient) colossal tanks and regional
detention basin be located? Obviously, this is folly, pie in the
sky and more waste of time and money. It isn’t even a good
bandaid. Council --- why aren’t you asking to see the design
and plans for this before contracting with some shyster who will say
he can construct this folly? Are you going to approve one of your
famous contracts (similar to contracts with downtown “revitalization
investors”) which contains no recourse for failure to complete?
Sewer
System Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation
of 40 miles of sewer pipe which is at or near the end of its useful
life
Estimated
Cost $74 million.
WWTP
Rehabilitation (Wastewater
Treatment Plant)
Critical
rehabilitation and upgrades to major treatment plant components
which are necessary for the plant to remain viable over the next 25
years
Estimated
Cost $79 million
In
addition, the City has agreed to complete a Supplemental
Environmental Project (SEP) to significantly reduce the civil penalty
for the alleged violations.
The SEP includes capping of sediments in a designated section of the
Hydraulic Canal adjacent to the STM (810
First Ave., City
contact in 7/15/2009 Mike Robinette)
/
Wrenn Site. The project allows the City to obtain a “Covenant Not
to Sue” from the Ohio EPA for the site under the Voluntary Action
Program, which in turn will allow for future redevelopment of the
site. The
civil penalty has been reduced to $55,000 in consideration of this
project.
Adkins
refers to The EPA’s civil penalties on Middletown as “alleged
violations?!?!
What
would EPA think of this terminology?
The STM/Wrenn Site and the adjacent Hydraulic Canal fines
are from
years
of
“alleged”
violation.
These
are not the only continuing
violations
and unpaid fines listed by the EPA!!! “This
project is a “win-win” for the City and Ohio EPA,” said Adkins.
“It will create a clean, shovel-ready building site for future
development consistent with the Downtown Master Plan.”
The
proposed consent decree has now been filed in the Federal District
Court for the Southern District of Ohio. The filling will initiate a
30-day comment period. Should no significant comments be received
objecting to the agreement, the US Department of Justice is expected
to file a motion asking the court to enter the proposed consent
decree as final and effective.
This
plan helps to fix
a century-old problem.
It is a solution that not only solves the EPA combined sewer issue,
but also upgrades our sewer plants and associated piping to maintain
viability of our water and sewer infrastructure into the future. It
also improves quality of the water in the river and addresses an old
industrial
brownfield site,
making it available for redevelopment.
Yes,
there are some very old sewer lines in Middletown. The problem which
EPA is requiring to be remedied was first addressed in the 1970’s
and had to do with separation of the old original storm water and
sanitary sewers in downtown Middletown, because of the subsequent
discharge into the river, of untreated sewage in violation of the
Clean Water Act. The planned solution was EPA approved, and
money was collected via sewer charges on water bills
but the separation of sewers never happened.
Industrial
brownfield sites (Wrenn paper and Aeronca sites for example) that
Adkins mentions above were initially separate issues which should
have been resolved years ago, and the Federal Superfund money
which Middletown obtained for Aeronca’s cleanup was illegally
misappropriated (siphoned off) for other city obligations or claimed
for the old catchall administrative fee, leaving the cleanup
unfinished or short of EPA approval. This is just one reason for
some of the fines EPA has levied. Now the cleanup and fines will
come out of the taxpayer’s pocket.
Neither
Adkins nor Journal News reporter, Richter, has revealed that there is
a specific schedule over the next 25 years for replacing sewer lines
and updating the entire system. If the deadlines are not met, very
heavy fines will be levied. The schedule and possible fines are
listed in the 30+ page consent decree.
Mr
Adkins didn’t mention in his blog post anything about the increase
in our water bills or the fact that the bills will continue to
increase 10 to 15 percent every year for years to come (at least 25
years) in order to pay the inflated costs.
None
of this is or will be Mr Adkins’ problem since he is nearing the
end of his 5 year plan to leave Middletown in ruins and be handsomely
paid for it. By the way has anybody, including Council, ever seen a
copy of this plan?
------------- "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing" Edmond Burke
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