CLEVELAND -- A warning has been issued Tuesday advising swimmers to avoid entering the water at Edgewater Beach until further notice.
An overflow from Monday night’s storms “discharged a combination of raw sewage and stormwater into Lake Erie,” according to officials with the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District.
Visitors to Edgewater Beach -- particularly children, the elderly and those in ill health -- are urged to avoid contact with the water.
“Since 1972, the Sewer District has reduced the volume of combined sewer overflows from 9 billion gallons to 4.5 billion gallons,” NORSD officials say. “Throughout the mid-1970s, the combined sewer outfall at Edgewater Beach discharged raw sewage into Lake Erie approximately 40 to 50 times per year. However, because of the Sewer District’s improvements to aging infrastructure, the Edgewater combined sewer overflow discharges have significantly decreased."
The last Edgewater discharge (during recreation season) was June 23, 2015.