MAYOR APPOINTS INDEPENDENT PANEL OF EXPERTS
TO PROVIDE ADVICE ON ONE PART OF ATLANTA’S OVERALL CLEAN WATER PLAN

“Ga. Tech President and Panel Members to Review Court Ordered CSO Plan”

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin today announced the formation of a panel of experts to advise the city on Atlanta’s$1 billion combined sewer overflow plan.  The Mayor’s “Clean Water Advisory Panel,” to be chaired by Dr. Wayne Clough, President of the Georgia Institute of Technology and a respected civil engineer, will conduct a comprehensive technical review of the City’s plan to ensure that it is in the best long-term interest of the City.

In announcing the committee Mayor Franklin said, “In solving its CSO problems, the City must make decisions that will fundamentally affect its water quality, economic growth and financial stability for generations to come.  I want the best advice possible as we make these critical decisions.  Through Dr. Clough’s committee, I know I will get that.”

Jefferson M. Hilliard has 39 years of diversified civil and geotechnical engineering experience and provides consulting services in transportation, water and geotechnical engineering.

Dr. Cecil Lue-Hing is Principle of the Environmental Engineering Consulting firm of Cecil Lue-Hing and Associates Inc. in Chicago, Illinois.

Mike Marcotte became the first Chief Engineer of the District of Columbia Water & Sewer Authority, where he is responsible for five operating divisions and the implementation of the Authority’s $1.6 billion, ten-year Capital Improvements Program.

Lawrence H. Roth is Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)

Billy G. Turner serves as President of the Columbus Water Works, which is the agency in the Consolidated City-County Government of Columbus, Georgia that provides for water and wastewater services.

Nancy J. Wheatley is a consultant providing strategic environmental consulting services to assist clients in planning environmentally responsible and cost-effective programs.

The CSO Plan is only one component of the City’s effort to ensure clean water for Atlanta and its surrounding environs. The proposed plan was developed in response to a court-ordered Consent Decree requiring the City to reduce its combined sewer overflows to a maximum of four per year by November 2007.  Currently, the City experiences 60-80 such spills per year currently.

The overall plan to modernize the City’s aging and dilapidated sewer system and to bring it into compliance with federal and state water quality standards will cost close to $4 billion.  The City already has invested over $1 billion in upgrades to its treatment plants.  By the year 2014 the City will invest another $2 billion to completely repair its 1900 miles of sanitary sewers and to add sewer lines needed for additional capacity and to address other regulatory requirements and essential renewal and extension of existing lines.

In March 2001,t he City submitted a plan to eliminate CSO violations to the Environmental Protection Agency through a combination of partial sewer separation and storage and treatment technologies.  The plan was approved by EPA in July 2001. Since that time the City has been refining this “authorized plan”, seeking to eliminate entire CSO basins through sewer separation and to minimize the size of the storage tunnels required.  By the end of September 2002 the City must submit its final refinements of the plan to the Court for approval.

Mayor Franklin says, “City officials and consultants, with input from the public, have worked hard on the City’s plan for three years.  I have confidence in the plan, but I want an independent group to conduct a thorough review before we move forward with such a significant City investment.  It was a natural for me to look to Dr. Clough to lead the review process.”

Dr. Clough said that he is eager to assist the City.  “The best solution for the City must balance water quality concerns, affordability, time limitations, quality of life factors, and provide a base for future economic growth.  We look forward to a thorough review of all the technical information.  I am confident we can provide the Mayor with good advice in a timely manner.”

Dr. Clough’s Panel is expected to meet monthly this summer to review the City’s technical plans and to analyze alternative approaches.  Notification of all meetings will be made to the public, and minutes of meetings will be published on the City’s website.  Because of the volume of material to be reviewed, presentations to the Panel will be made at its invitation.

The investment of $4 billion over 20 years in sewer infrastructure is unprecedented in City history.  At least 75% of that investment is required under the federal Consent Decree and other State regulatory requirements.  The cost will have a significant impact on ratepayers, and the Mayor is determined to enlist state and federal aid for the program.  Mayor Franklin has already submitted a $150 million appropriations request to help build the Nancy Creek Tunnel, a necessary sanitary sewer line to relieve overflows and to provide capacity in the north section of the City.  The Mayor has traveled to Washington, D.C. to personally seek support for the request, and she scheduled to make another trip, in July.