County: Poop incinerator is ours

Hamilton County and Cincinnati officials are fighting over an incinerator that burns human waste.

County Prosecutor Joe Deters sent a letter Friday to the Ohio and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warning them not to deal directly with the city regarding the Little Miami Incinerator because the city doesn't have the authority to make a deal. The city and EPA have been talking because the incinerator no longer complies with federal regulations and could be shut down unless it gets an upgrade.

Both the city, which runs the Metropolitan Sewer District, and the county, which oversees its budget, want the EPA to allow the incinerator to remain open until it can be fixed or replaced. If they fail, the sewer district could be forced to transport tons of human waste in dump trucks to an incinerator in Lower Price Hill or to the Rumpke landfill in Colerain Township.

Neither side wants that to happen, but they can't agree on how best to avoid it.

Deters accused the city of deliberately excluding the county from negotiations with the EPA and falsely representing that it had the authority to negotiate a settlement.

"This situation that we have right now is untenable," Deters said Friday after sending the letter. "I'm in agreement with a united front with the EPA, but the city is not going to negotiate without us."

Mayor John Cranley said the city was doing no such thing. He said city officials were under the impression the county was on board with their meetings with the EPA and that both the city and county were working toward the same goal: preventing human waste from being shipped across the county.

"If their feelings are hurt, we will absolutely ensure they are involved in phone calls with the EPA," Cranley said. "We don't want to put politics above public health."

Bickering over the sewer district is common these days because sewer rates are rising dramatically as the district undertakes a massive, $3.2 billion overhaul of the sewer system.

Deters' letter included a copy of the 2014 federal court ruling that found the county should be regarded as the owner of the sewer district, while the city is, essentially, the county's contractor.

He said only the board of county commissioners has the authority to cut a deal.

"The board will determine if, when and how its agent, the city, may participate in such discussions and negotiations," Deters wrote.

City officials have disputed that view and say they should have more authority to run the district. They have accused the county of meddling too much and causing unnecessary delays and expenses.

The latest dispute over the incinerator arose after MSD Director Gerald Checco told the county's MSD monitor, Dave Meyer, earlier this week that the city "is leading the discussion with regulators" and is seeking a "roadmap to an agreement as soon as possible." He made those comments Tuesday in an email, which Deters attached to his letter.

Cranley said the whole thing is a misunderstanding. "We have not done anything differently than what we have jointly agreed to do," he said.