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Cameras play role in curtailing gang activity By J. Patrick Eaken Press Staff Writer news@presspublications.com
Dave Spangler, charter boat captain and board president of Lake Erie Waterkeeper, Inc., holds a jar of the lake’s green water with algal blooms at the Maumee Bay River Festival held last fall at International Park. See story on page 2. (Press photo by Ken Grosjean)
Sewer overflows feed toxic algae By Kelly J. Kaczala Press News Editor kkaczala@presspublications.com Each year, wastewater is released into Lake Erie from outdated combined sewer systems. These systems collect rainwater runoff, domestic sewage and industrial wastewater in the same pipe that handles wastewater disposal and storm water drainage. Following heavy rains, due to combined sewer overflows, raw sewage and storm water are transported into the lake, bypassing municipal sewage treatment plants. The phosphorus from the waste contributes toward the development of harmful algal blooms. It is estimated that combined sewer overflows (CSOs) contribute up to 1.5 percent of the total phosphorus load into Lake Erie, according to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. Ohio has 101 CSO communities, 62 of which are in the Lake Erie drainage basin. CSO is the second significant contributor, after agricultural run-off, of phosphorus in the basin, according to a report by the Ohio Lake Erie Phosphorus Task Force II. Communities with CSOs must address the problem, as required by the Clean Water Act, according to Heidi Griesmer, acting deputy director of communication at the Ohio EPA. Sewer separation, constructing storage basins and expanding wastewater treatment plants are among the options available to communities, she said. “Sewer separation is usually the most expensive. Some communities choose to
Saving Lake Erie A special 3 week report from The Press Inside... • Charter captains “avoid the bloom” • Army Corps., EPA at odds over dumping • Economy bruised by blooms use a combination of the options. Ohio EPA works with communities to determine what options will achieve the goals in a timely and affordable manner,” said Griesmer. Most communities in Ohio have completed the work, or are in the process of doing so, she said. Typically, communities are put on a schedule, called a Long Term Control Plan (LTCP). It is incorporated into their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, which regulates the direct discharge of wastewater into the lake. “These set up a timeline for various segments of work to be accomplished and a final completion date,” said Griesmer. Forty-two of the 62 CSO communities in the Lake Erie drainage basin will have completed the projects required by their LTCP by 2020, with all projects to be finished by 2035, according to the Ohio Lake Erie Phosphorus Task Force II report.
Communities must report overflow incidents, including the location, estimated volume and duration of an overflow event, said Griesmer. In most cases, violations are not cited. The number of communities with combined sewers has been going down as construction projects to separate sewer lines or store overflow water progresses, she said. The Ohio EPA keeps an inventory of communities with CSOs. Toledo Toledo has been working to eliminate CSOs as part of the Toledo Waterways Initiative (TWI), according to Lisa Ward, executive officer of Toledo Mayor D. Michael Collins. The TWI is a multi-million dollar project to upgrade the sewer system and prevent raw sewage runoff from getting into Lake Erie. Toledo City Council last August approved a 52 percent sewer rate increase over a six year period to help fund the program. “CSO has been reduced, and will continue to be reduced and eliminated through the TWI,” said Ward. The Initiative is expected to reduce
sewage overflows through wastewater storage, sewer separation and improved wastewater treatment. It will consist of over 45 separate projects encompassing 48 square miles over the course of 18 years, at a total cost of $521 million. One of the major projects already
Toledo police are saying that a $1.6 million project to purchase 160 Sky-Cop surveillance cameras around the city is paying off. Camera evidence helped lead to the conviction of Deontay Smith, 25, on six charges related to the East Toledo murder of Michael Macklin, Jr. in what is described as a gang shooting. Macklin, 20, was shot in the jaw and left shoulder on Feb. 2, 2013 at Walden and Greenwood. It was a Sky-Cop camera at Steadman and Starr that helped provide the evidence needed to convince a jury. “At 1:13 in the morning at Walden and Greenwood, Mr. Macklin was stopped at his vehicle and then a light colored SUV pulled up, fired multiple shots at Mr. Macklin and he was struck multiple times and the vehicle fled towards Nevada. We responded and he passed away early that morning,” said Sgt. Joe Heffernan, the TPD public information officer, “One of the key pieces of evidence that we used to piece this together was that Sky-Cop camera was able to see a car, not right at that location where the murder happened, but able to see a vehicle matching that description leave in that area right before and right after the crime happened. So, from that, we were able to trace down who owned the car, which led us to the murderer.” A third type, more covert cameras, will be disguised in places where the department sees crimes developing certain patterns, Heffernan says. He said a camera and its setup typically costs between $5,000 and $10,000, depending on its location, available power sources and access to Wi-Fi. “The two main types are stationary pole cameras that have the light boxes and the blue lights with the police patch on it, and they feed directly in our Real Time Crime Center,” Heffernan said. “We have a whole wall of monitors that we can put up all the different camera locations, and 24 hours a day there is always somebody in there watching. Continued on page 8
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...and I’ve received my fair share of death threats over the years. Khalil Bendib See page 11
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