Indiana city asks EPA for more time to cut sewage overflows

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (AP) - A southern Indiana city wants the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to give it 10 more years to reduce its raw sewage overflows.

A 2009 agreement gives Jeffersonville until 2025 to comply with the EPA's sewage overflow reduction mandate. But the News and Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/2eBGMBZ ) the Ohio River city says its financial situation has changed and it can't afford the $44 million left in the mandate.

Jeffersonville officials are seeking a 10-year extension to comply. City sewer department director Len Ashack says that's the city's "only option" remaining.

Jeffersonville is one of many U.S. cities facing EPA mandates to reduce their overflows of untreated sewage into streams and rivers. Those occur when runoff from rainfall or snowstorms overwhelm old combined sewer systems that accept both storm water and sanitary waste.

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Information from: News and Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind., http://www.newsandtribune.com