Metropolitan Sewer District

The Metropolitan Sewer District says a mass of tree roots, grease and "flushable" wipes caused a sewer line to overflow in Winton Woods. The agency is also investigating a second sewage spill elsewhere in the park.

The Metropolitan Sewer District will begin accepting applications for a newly approved Customer Assistance Program (CAP). The CAP offers a 25% discount to low-income senior citizens who meet certain criteria.

Not surprisingly, Cincinnati officials are rejecting Hamilton County commissioners' plan announced last week to transfer the Metropolitan Sewer District's executive staff to county control while leaving sewer district employees under the city.  

Updated at 2:30 p.m. with comment from the city.

Hamilton County commissioners say they have a plan to end the dysfunction at the Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD).

Hamilton County's plan for the next phase of the federally-mandated sewer system overhaul calls for using newer "green" technologies rather than traditional methods for dealing with waste and storm water.

Citywide flash flooding tore through neighborhoods in the spring of 2017, causing sewage backups and flooded basements. In Mt. Adams the hillside broke away. In the spring of 2018, the Ohio River crested to levels we haven't seen since 1997. Cincinnati City Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld has pointed out how frequently we've been experiencing these 100-year rain events.

While the City of Cincinnati struggles to reduce a $32 million deficit, it continues to carry millions of dollars in loans and unpaid debt.

A year after Hamilton County and Cincinnati leaders thought they'd settled the future of the Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD), the deal isn't done. And it may need to be reopened.

Imagine this: You're outside a bar on Main Street in Over-the-Rhine. A friend's boyfriend has stepped outside to smoke. He finishes the cigarette, and maybe there isn't an ashtray or a bucket nearby, and so he tosses it into the street.

Or, try this scenario: You're at home with one of those "flushable" wipes. You're done with it, so, you flush it.

After a series of public hearings on a proposed spending plan, Cincinnati City Council members will debate how they want to alter the budgets submitted by Acting City Manager Patrick Duhaney and Mayor John Cranley.   

The federal judge overseeing the Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) consent decree has again told Cincinnati and Hamilton County leaders to work together. Judge Michael Barrett says if the two entities can't, he'll make decisions and they probably won't like them.