By Patrick Crowley
The Cincinnati Enquirer

FORT WRIGHT - Cincinnati Water Works is continuing to fight a $75 million Northern Kentucky sewage treatment plant planned for Alexandria.

Saying the plant will add pollutants to the Ohio River, the Cincinnati Water Works is appealing the state permit the Sanitation District No. 1 has received to build the plant.

The head of the Sanitation District, which operates Northern Kentucky's sewer system, said the appeal would further delay construction of the much-needed plant.

. "Frankly, we're outraged," said Jeff Eger, the district's general manager. "It's going to cost time and it's going to cost money because we have to engage our attorneys and fly in experts" to testify.

A hearing before a division of the Kentucky Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet is set for July 13. The Division of Water issued a permit for the project May 12. Cincinnati Water Works is appealing that permit.

The plant will replace an outdated sewer system in and around Alexandria that performs poorly and often overflows during heavy rains. Because of the system's condition, the state put a moratorium on construction in the area until the plant is opened.

Cincinnati Water Works Director Dave Rager said he "applauds" a new plant. But he appealed the permit because it will discharge treated sewage 11 miles upstream from Cincinnati's Water Works' Ohio River intake in California, an East Side Cincinnati neighborhood.

Rager said he is concerned the discharge will contain parasites that will harm the quality of the water that flows into the intake.

"We believe there is credible, scientific evidence to show that there will be a degradation of the water supply," Rager said Thursday. "So we asked for a reconsideration ... of the permit that is allowed under Kentucky law."

Rager said he wants the Sanitation District to move the discharge line downstream from the intake.

"We're not objecting to them building the plant," he said. "The issue is the effluent being located upstream of our water intake. All we're asking ... is they move it downstream."

But Eger said building a line downstream from the intake would add more than $40 million to the cost.

Eger maintains that the district is taking all the necessary steps to ensure that the discharge will be safe. Ultraviolet light will be used to destroy parasites that Cincinnati is concerned about.

"We are not required to use ultraviolet light," he said. "But we're doing it to kill bacteria."

Kentucky law stipulates that sewage discharge must be at least five miles from a water system's intake. The line in Kentucky will be 11 miles from the intake, Eger said.

Cincinnati Water Works had raised its concerns earlier, forcing a hearing before the Division of Water that was held last year.

"This is just going to put us further back," Eger said.

E-mail pcrowley@enquirer.com