Gary Sanitary District presents long‑term control plan and seeks industrial/commercial rate increases

Representatives of the Gary Sanitary District presented the committee with the district’s combined overflow long‑term control plan (LTCP), described the rationale for a proposed commercial and industrial rate increase and answered council members’ questions about alternatives and customer outreach.

An attorney and sanitary‑district staff said the district has long operated under a federal consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency because the city’s combined sewer system has historically discharged overflows to the Little Calumet and Grand Calumet rivers during heavy rains. The LTCP presented to the council proposes a phased approach to reduce overflows, principally by adding roughly six large holding/treatment tanks at lift‑station locations that routinely overflow; those tanks would hold excess flow until the system can process it. The LTCP cost was described at about $155 million over 15 years (and approximately $300…