A complaint filed without much fanfare in federal court last week charges that Akron has violated the Clean Water Act for more than a decade by allowing raw sewage to flood into Cuyahoga River, the Little Cuyahoga, the Ohio Canal and into the basements and yards of Akron residents.
The problem is that during storms, Akron's old drainage system can't handle the amount of water that pours in. Pipes carrying stormwater and sewage overflow and both lines are contaminated.
The lawsuit alleges Akron has moved too slowly to correct the problem and they want the city to be fined for each day since 1997 when the EPA says the violation began.
Akron's Director of City Services, Rick Merolla, says the city's doing all it can afford, including spending $17 million dollars on a sewage holding tank, after reaching a verbal agreement with the Ohio EPA.
Merolla: "We've done a lot of things, and unfortunately our rate payers have to pay for those improvements. We just want to make its done balanced and doesn't negatively harm our taxpayers, who right now are having such trouble with foreclosures and layoffs."
Justice Department spokesman Andy Ames says the city must satisfy the federal law regardless of what state agencies do.
Akron has 60 days to respond in court to the EPA complaint. The suit is the first indication that the Obama administration intends to pursue environmental enforcement more vigorously than the Bush administration.
Kymberli Hagelberg, 90.3