The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the Euclid Creek Tunnel on Wednesday, April 20, 2011, at 11 a.m. at the Sewer District’s Easterly Wastewater Treatment Plant. The groundbreaking event will feature remarks from area leaders as well as a symbolic shovel ceremony.

The Euclid Creek Tunnel, a key component in the Sewer District’s 25-year $3 billion Project Clean Lake program, is a $197 million project that will capture combined sewer overflows, or CSOs, drastically reducing raw sewage that enters our waterways during heavy storms. Construction is scheduled to begin on Euclid Creek Tunnel this month and will continue for four years.

Two additional large-scale construction projects will be integrated with the Euclid Creek Tunnel. The Tunnel Dewatering Pump Station is an $80 million project that will pump sewage out of the storage tunnel to the Easterly Wastewater Treatment Plant for treatment. Upon completion of the Euclid Creek Tunnel, the Sewer District will begin construction on the Dugway Storage Tunnel, which will further reduce combined sewer overflows in the area.

“When all three projects are complete, one billion gallons of combined sewage will be captured each year and not discharged into Lake Erie,” said Kellie Rotunno, Director of Engineering and Construction. “Projects such as this not only benefit the environment, but Clevelanders are put to work and the local economy benefits as well.”

The Easterly Wastewater Treatment Plant is located at 14021 Lakeshore Boulevard in Cleveland. Due to homeland security regulations, a photo I.D. is required to enter our facility. Closed-toe shoes and long pants are recommended.

About Euclid Creek Tunnel

The Euclid Creek Tunnel will start in Bratenahl, south of Interstate 90, and continue northeast to the District’s Easterly Wastewater Treatment Plant. There, the tunnel will continue under Lake Erie for about 3000 feet and pass under the shoreline near Green Creek at East 152nd Street. The tunnel will then head east, following Lake Shore Boulevard and Nottingham Road, and end at St. Clair Avenue.
The Euclid Creek Storage Tunnel will be located 190 to 220 feet below ground. The tunnel will be 18,000 feet long, with a diameter of 24 feet. It will have the capacity to hold 52 million gallons of combined stormwater and wastewater.

About combined sewer overflows (CSOs)

Greater Cleveland’s earliest sewers (primarily within the City and its inner-ring suburbs) are combined sewers. Built around the turn of the 19th century, these sewers carry sewage, industrial waste, and stormwater in a single pipe.  During heavy rains, there is a dramatic increase of water flowing through the combined sewers. When this happens, control devices may allow some of the combined wastewater and stormwater to overflow into area waterways—such as Lake Erie and Euclid Creek—to prevent urban flooding. This event is called a combined sewer overflow, or CSO, and harms our clean water environment. Learn more.