Youngstown residents may not have to pay quite as much as first thought for the EPA-ordered rebuilding of the city’s waste-water control system.
Like most Ohio cities Youngstown had to overhaul its sewer system. It signed a consent decree with the U.S. EPA in 2002 for a 30-year, $310-milllion project.
Since then, negotiations and re-design suggestions have cut that figure in half. And, Mayor John McNally says last week city representatives met with the EPA with more cost reduction ideas. “That’s generally what we’re trying to do. We’ saying ‘look, we’re not changing the plan, but we’ve come up with better design elements that we think will result in less expense to us, while maintaining or increasing our ability to treat the water.”
McNally says the meeting went well and he is hopeful the EPA will OK the latest modifications.
