Raw Sewage Enters Edgewater Beach, Swimming Advisory In Place

CLEVELAND, OH — Monday's heavy storms caused raw sewage and storm overflow to pour into Lake Erie on Tuesday morning. Beachgoers have been advised not to enter the water at Edgewater Beach until further notice.

It is not clear when the swimming advisory at the beach will be lifted. Jennifer Elting, a senior public information specialist with the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, told Patch.

"We will conduct water quality testing twice a day (morning and afternoon). Samples will be collected across the beach and offshore. The first results will be available tomorrow morning, at the earliest," Elting said. The tests will continue to be conducted until the results are below the bacteria threshold, Elting added.

The last time there was this kind of discharge into the Edgewater-area was in June 2015, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District said. The NEORSD called the discharge part of a CSO event — combined sewer overflow.

“Our region has experienced many strong storms in recent years, an ongoing trend that we will see more of in the future,” said Director of Watershed Programs Frank Greenland in a posted statement. “CSOs, along with flooding and streambank erosion, all impact water quality throughout our region Fortunately, the Sewer District is developing a regional solution to manage these sizeable issues and protect our region’s greatest natural resource: Lake Erie.”

The 1970s saw frequent sewer outfall into the Edgewater Beach area. The sewer district said raw sewage spilled into Lake Erie 40 to 50 times a year during the mid-1970s. Since then, due to increased focus on improving infrastructure and cleaning up the lake, sewer overflow discharges have been decreased.

The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District said it has several projects ongoing that will further decrease the possibility of CSO events impacting the lake.

NOTICE: Heavy overnight storm triggers overflow, prompts swimming advisory at Edgewater Beach https://t.co/h6Zj3GiFFk @NEORSDbeaches pic.twitter.com/XoMf2G3vjm
— NE Ohio Regional Sewer (@neorsd) August" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/neorsd/sta... 7, 2018

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Photo from Rick Uldricks, Patch