The Cincinnati Health Department and Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati (MSD) are urging citizens to continue avoiding recreation on the lower Mill Creek (below the I-74/I-75 interchange), following a power outage at MSD’s Mill Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant on March 5. Recreation on the Ohio River below the Brent Spence Bridge should also be avoided as a precaution.

Preliminary sampling data, collected and shared by the Mill Creek Alliance, shows elevated levels of E. coli, which can cause gastro-intestinal illnesses if ingested, in the lower Mill Creek.  There continues to be no impact to local drinking water, as the discharges are downstream of the Ohio River intake for Greater Cincinnati Water Works.

The plant, located in Lower Price Hill, lost all electrical power on Sunday morning after a high voltage substation transformer failure. As a result of the power failure, untreated and partially treated wastewater has been discharging to the lower Mill Creek and Ohio River.

Power has been restored to the plant, and wastewater discharges have been significantly reduced (>50%), but the plant is not back to full operation yet. Additional capacity is being restored to completely stop the discharges as quickly as possible. Recreation should be avoided until at least 72 hours after the discharges stop.

MSD is working closely with the U.S. EPA, Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Mill Creek Alliance.