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Frank Greenland is a professional engineer and a key architect of two of the Sewer District's most ambitious and important programs: Project Clean Lake (which reduces sewer overflows into the environment) and the Regional Stormwater Management Program (addressing erosion, flooding, and water-quality issues along local streams). 

We learn how an early love of fishing led Frank to pursue a career in cleaning up Cleveland's waterways, and he shares his thoughts on the 1969 river fire, more-recent basement-flooding problems, public speaking, and tasty jams.

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Donna and Mike met up with Sewer District CEO Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells for a conversation that touched on a wide range of topics, from her early interest in public service, to watersheds and climate change, to dyslexia, hip hop, and running in the dark.

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Heather Elmer of Chagrin River Partners and Derek Schafer of the West Creek Conservancy join us for a discussion of watersheds, their importance, and ways their organizations and others work to protect local waterways.

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A follow-up to our conversation with Environmental Services Supervisor Scott Broski, on the Sewer District's involvement in tracking the spread of COVID-19 in Northeast Ohio, using wastewater samples. 

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In addition to working as a Plant Utility Maintenance Person (a "PUMP") at our Southerly Wastewater Treatment Center, history buff Danny Schoeffler is a native of that neighborhood. He talks about growing up in the close-knit village of Cuyahoga Heights and shares a bit of history of the Southerly plant and the area's development from farmland to industry. Also: work hazards and superhuman strength (Marvel and otherwise).

Acronyms used in this episode:
H²S - Hydrogen Sulfide aka "Sewer Gas"

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NEORSD Superintendent of Environmental Services Scott Broski gives his insights into the February 3, 2023, train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and explains the emergency-response protocols for these kinds of accidents.

Acronyms used in this episode:
WQIS - Water Quality & Industrial Surveillance (NEORSD)
SCBA - Self Contained Breathing Apparatus
ODNR - Ohio Department of Natural Resources
LEPC - Local Emergency Planning Committee
EPCRA - Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act
EHS - Extremely Hazardous Substances
PPE - Personal Protective Equipment

For more information on Environmental Services, visit:
https://www.neorsd.org/environmental

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There's a lot happening hundreds of feet below Cleveland's surface. NEORSD Construction Supervisor Robert Auber explains the ins and outs of tunnel excavation in various types of rock and the particular mindset required for a career working underground. 

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Bradshaw Rescola contemplates worst-case scenarios for organizations and explains how the Sewer District investigates and safeguards against vulnerabilities and harm.

Acronyms used in this episode:

SWOT: An analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats
CIA: Certified Internal Auditor
CFE: Certified Fraud Examiner
NIST: National Institute of Standards and Technology, which provides a privacy framework for cybersecurity

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Analytical Services is the name of the Sewer District's laboratory, where water samples are tested for various toxicants and characteristics.

Supervising Chemist Debmalya Bhattacharyya explains the lab's testing methods for determining what's in the wastewater and making sure that the treated water is safe to re-introduce into Lake Erie.

Some acronyms and terms used in this episode:

NPDES: National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, which regulates point sources that discharge pollutants to waters of the United States.
WET: Whole Effluent Toxicity, a lab test that measure wastewater's effects on certain organisms' ability to survive, grow, and reproduce.
ICP: Inductive Coupled Plasma Spectroscopy, a technique that measures and identifies elements within a sample based on the ionization of those elements.
GCMS: Gas Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy
Mass Spec: short for Mass Spectrometer, an instrument that can measure the mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) of one or more molecules present in a sample.
PFAS: Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances.
qPCR: Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction, a technology used for measuring nucleic acid in DNA and RNA.
NELAP: National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program
QA/QC: Quality Assurance and Quality Control

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In this bonus Clean Water Works segment, Donna talks with residents attending a design workshop for the Doan Brook Restoration at Horseshoe Lake. Hear their ideas for enhancements to the design architects' proposed stream alignments at this popular nature destination. For more information, visit the our website.