Hamilton County commissioners on Wednesday approved a settlement between the Metropolitan Sewer District and the federal government intended to eliminate illegal sewer discharges that could cost up to $1 billion.

        The vote was 2-1, with Commissioner Todd Portune voting against the settlement, called a consent decree. Cincinnati officials also will have to sign off on the decree.

        Six years in the making, the consent decree demands that the sewer district get rid of 17 of its sewer overflows that spill waste into the county's rivers and streams. The district will initially spend $74 million on the project, but the price tag could rise to $1 billion over the next several decades. Ratepayers will foot the bill with annual 6 percent increases.

        The decree also requires the county to study its system and determine the best way to eliminate 90 other sewer overflows.

        Mr. Portune urged commissioners to delay voting for two weeks, so that the public could take time reviewing the 75-page document, which has hundreds of pages of attachments.

        Commissioners were under pressure to vote because of a pending lawsuit over the same issue. The Sierra Club filed its notice to sue the county two months ago, and can file its suit as early as Monday.

        Dave Altman, attorney for the Sierra Club, promised that the environmental activist group would not file suit for two weeks if commissioners delayed their vote.

        Only Mr. Portune was interested in that idea.

        “We are losing a great opportunity to embark on a couple of weeks of thoughtful review,” Mr. Portune said. “For reasons I don't understand, we are rushing to approve a document without ensuring it is in the best interest of the fiscal health and the environmental health of the county.”

        Commissioner Tom Neyer said the consent decree is a starting point, and the public will have ample opportunity to weigh in.

        “This is $74 million, and most of it is already contemplated in our capital improvement budget,” Mr. Neyer said. “People have an opportunity to weigh in on our capital budget every year.

        “I believe this provides future commissioners the flexibility to make policy that is the will of county residents, not the federal government.”

        Mr. Altman said the commission's action almost ensures a Sierra Club lawsuit.

        “I don't see where we have any other choice,” Mr. Altman said. “This is not a comprehensive resolution to the problem.”

        The Sierra Club has several concerns about the consent decree:

        • It does not address overflows at pump stations and treatment plants.

        • It does not require the elimination of overflows by a specified date.

        • It has no civil penalties for past violations.

        • It has no provisions for stream monitoring, no public outreach program and no citizen oversight or technical review.

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