Published: July 18, 2008 04:31 pm            

Some Jeffersonville residents may be forced onto city sewers

25 letters sent out, more could follow

About 25 residents on Sundancer Drive will soon receive letters from the Jeffersonville Sewer Department informing them they are required to hook up to the city’s sewer system.

Under state law, municipalities have the right to force those living within 300 feet of a sewer line to hook on to the system. As a result, homeowners there will have to pay $1,525 in city fees, plus whatever a contractor charges them for running a line into their home.

The first 25 could be just the start, as at least 200 more homes around the city are in the same situation and could receive similar notices in the future, city officials said.

Asked if he thought the move would upset residents, Mayor Tom Galligan responded: “Probably. But is it good for the environment? Absolutely.”

Requiring residents to hook onto the sewer system is something favored by both county and state governments because of its positive environmental affects, Galligan said.

He noted that 50 percent of Ohio River’s bacterial pollution here comes from Louisville; about 12 percent comes from Jeffersonville; and the remaining 38 percent is coming from nontraceable sources, such as failing septic systems.

Such figures are watched closely by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Recently, the agency has put pressure on the city of Jeffersonville to reduce combine sewer overflows, which contributes to that pollution.

“It’s the 1972 clean water act,” Galligan said.

The Jeffersonville Sewer Board was given notice about the letters going out during Wednesday’s regular meeting.

        

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