Title
Resolution to Approve Administrative Consent Order for Sanitary Sewer Overflows with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy ($45,000.00)
Memorandum
Your approval is requested for signature and approval of an Administrative Consent Order for Sanitary Sewer Overflows with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy ($45,000.00)
Since 2016, the City has experienced several Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSOs). While these SSOs are never desirable, City Staff have rapidly responded to each of these incidents to address immediate cleanup concerns, as well as evaluating long term maintenance needs, as well as the financial impacts. City Staff has internally been completing an Asset Management Plan for the Sanitary Sewer Collection System to address and optimize maintenance needs, including rehabilitation recommendations, and repair/replace recommendations for the entire Sanitary Sewer Collection System. This Plan is nearly complete, and implementation has already started in the Public Works Unit, as preventative maintenance recommendations are being integrated into daily work orders and assignments. Potential budget impacts have been integrated into the existing and future budget forecast models.
Based on the 2017 American Water Works Association (AWWA) Utility Benchmarking: Performance Management for Water and Wastewater Report, the City of Ann Arbor has considerably less SSOs than the National average per year. (National average is 2.5 SSOs per 100 miles of pipe; Ann Arbor is 1.1 SSOs per 100 miles of pipe).
In May of 2019, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) contacted the City of Ann Arbor with the intent to enforce an Administrative Consent Order (ACO) upon the City, based on the multiple Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSOs) that have occurred since 2016.
The attached Administrative Consent Order (ACO) document results from allegations by the Department of Environment, Great Lakes,...
Click here for full text