April 19, 2017
The Village of New Boston operates a sewage collections system comprised of sanitary sewers and combined sewers. Sanitary sewage is collected during dry weather and pumped to the City of Portsmouth for treatment and discharge. The Village of New Boston has just become aware of connections in our collections system that allow sanitary sewage to discharge to the Ohio River during dry weather. During completion of the Village’s Phase 5 dye testing project, sewer connectivity was checked in the western half of the Village. The Village has identified sanitary sewer laterals that connect to a sewer on Stanton Avenue, which in turn is connected to our West Avenue outfall sewer that discharges to the Ohio River. Sewage from approximately 29 buildings, including commercial, retail, and industrial properties and apartment buildings, is currently discharging tot he Ohio River without treatment.
The Village is providing this public notice to forward citizens of the likely contamination of a portion of the Ohio River along the Ohio bank downstream from West Avenue. The contamination is not likely to affect any downstream drinking water intakes, since the next water intake is located in Maysville, Kentucky, approximately 55 miles downstream. The drinking water intake for the Portsmouth water treatment plant is upstream of this sanitary sewerage discharge and is not affected. There are no known beaches that provide the opportunity for citizens to recreate in the contaminated water. Citizens are cautioned to avoid contact with the Ohio River for several miles downstream of the Village.
The Village is already working on a short-term and long-term solutions to this problem. The short-term solutions will take several weeks to implement. The long-term correction will be included in the Village’s Phase 6 CSO improvements project scheduled for construction in 2018.
The Village has communicated this situation to the Ohio EPA, federal EPA Region 5, and the Scioto County Health Department. Any questions from concerned citizens should be directed to Steve Hamilton, Village Administrator at (740) 456-4106.
Steve Hamilton, Village Administrator