Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District Update

Crews work at NEORSD Southerly Treatment Plant stabilizing bio-solid sludge from six digesters that are being removed to allow for the new 118 million dollar incinerator building. The sludge was contaminated with Cobalt 60 over thirty years ago and has been sitting since that time. The Cobalt 60 has a short half-life and most of the material is spent, but it still has to be scanned for any remaining contamination.

The sludge is mixed with a drying agent utilizing a screw & paddle mixer that was custom made at Independence Recycling's fabrication shop. The drying agent had to be mixed with 11' deep sludge to get it to the consistency of topsoil so it could be placed on the conveyor belt for scanning.

Removal of all the sludge is now complete and crews are preparing to demolish the digester tanks, install the beams and lagging and complete the excavation for the future building.