The City of Portsmouth will be holding a joint public meeting with the U.S. and Ohio Environmental Protection Agencies to explain the details of the City’s Wastewater Long Term Control Plan and to allow the public an opportunity to review and comment on the Plan before it is finalist.

This meeting was previously scheduled for Feb. 5, but was postponed.

The details of the Long Term Control Plan, which is currently in draft form, subject to revisions based on comments from the public, will be discussed at the public meeting. The draft Plan will also be accessible to the public on a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency website.

The Long Term Control Plan is intended to address various wastewater-related concerns in the city of Portsmouth, including:

1. Elimination of basement flooding and improvement of drainage capacity in the Grandview Avenue area.

2. Removal of inflow and infiltration of groundwater from sewers in the North Moreland area.

3. Removal of sanitary sewage from the Lawson Run Sewer to reduce combined sewer overflows.

These and other issues are included in an implementation schedule contained in a proposed administrative order.

The City and the EPA have been in negotiations for over one year in order to develop a plan of action that will be both affordable and effective in improving the City’s sewer system.

The public meeting is to be held at Shawnee State University, in the Flohr Lecture Hall of the Clark Memorial Library, 940 Second St. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 12.

Officials of the U.S. and Ohio Environmental Protection Agencies are expected to be present, along with Portsmouth City officials and the City’s consultants. Comments will be moderated by a representative of the Ohio EPA’s Public Information Office.

Source: City of Portsmouth