CLEVELAND — Heavy rainfall Tuesday afternoon caused a combination of raw sewage and stormwater to overflow into Lake Erie, and as a result, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) has posted a public advisory at Edgewater Beach.
Visitors, particularly children, the elderly and those in ill health, are advised to avoid contact with water and debris at the beach, according to a news release from the NEORSD.
“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. “[Combined Sewer Overflows], 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.”
While these overflows happened 40 to 50 times a year back in the 1970s, the Sewer District’s improvements to aging infrastructure has caused overflow discharges to decease significantly. The last such discharge during recreation season was on May 28, 2019.
