Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District finishes 2nd of 7 tunnels in $3 billion project to keep sewage out of Lake Erie

Tour of Westerly Storage Tunnel

A crane lowers a basket of people 200 feet below ground level into the Westerly Storage Tunnel on May 15, 2019. The tunnel is part of Project Clean Lake, the Sewer District's 25-year, $3 billion infrastructure investment program. The two-mile long tunnel runs beneath Tremont, Ohio City and Detroit-Shoreway neighborhoods and is the fourth of seven tunnels. (Gus Chan, The Plain Dealer)The Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District has completed its second of seven tunnels to store combined sewer overflows and keep sewage from polluting Lake Erie.

The Dugway Storage Tunnel -- originally a $153 million price tag -- came in $4.6 million under budget, according to a release from the sewer district. The announcement came on the 51st anniversary of the Cuyahoga River fire.

The work is part of Project Clean Lake, the Sewer District’s 25-year, $3 billion program to drastically reduce the amount of combined sewage entering local waterways during heavy rain storms.

The earliest sewers in Northeast Ohio were built around the turn of the 19th century and carry sewage, industrial waste, and stormwater in a single pipe. During heavy rains, the pipes overflow into waterways like Lake Erie and Euclid Creek to prevent urban flooding.

In 1972, nearly 9 billion gallons of raw sewage was discharged into the local water bodies. Through decades of investment, the Sewer District reduced the volume to 4.5 billion gallons. At the conclusion of Project Clean Lake, the Sewer District will have reduced discharges to 500 million gallons.

“Today marks 51 years since the 1969 Cuyahoga River fire, an event that was the catalyst for environmental change, including the need for investing in our sewer and stormwater infrastructure,” said sewer district CEO Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells. “Since our creation in 1972, the Sewer District has been committed to that effort, investing nearly $5 billion in sewer and stormwater infrastructure designed to protect public health and the environment. Project Clean Lake further reflects the commitment we have to our region, our customers and the environment, and we look forward to continuing this work for the next 50 years and beyond.”

The Euclid Creek Tunnel was the first tunnel constructed under Project Clean Lake. That, along with Dugway Storage Tunnel and the Easterly Tunnel Dewatering Pump Station, which pumps sewage to the Easterly Wastewater Treatment Plant, represent a $416 million investment in clean water. The system will reduce the amount of raw sewage discharging into the environment during heavy rain events by 720 million gallons each year.

The massive Dugway runs nearly 3 miles under the Glenville neighborhood, with a pump station is located in Bratenahl, just south of I-90.

Project Clean Lake is scheduled for completion in 2035. The remaining four tunnels include the Doan Valley Storage Tunnel, Westerly Storage Tunnel, the Shoreline Tunnel, and the Southerly Storage Tunnel.

Dugway Storage Tunnel facts

Length: Nearly 3 miles

Diameter: 24 feet, large enough to fit a tractor trailer.

Depth: It runs 200 feet underground through the Glenville neighborhood, and connects to the Easterly Tunnel Dewatering Pump Station.

Storage: 55 million gallons of combined stormwater and wastewater

Timeline: Construction began in 2015 and was completed this year.

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