BRATENAHL, Ohio — It was an assignment I never thought I'd take on, but there I was a few weeks ago, traveling 200 feet down a sewer shaft, into the Euclid Creek tunnel.
Down below, there are 21 miles of tunnels, big enough for semis to drive through. The project built as part of a federal consent settlement to reduce pollution from getting into Lake Erie.
The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District gave us a peek at this 25-year, $3 billion mission called "Project Clean Lake." It's something officials say is critical to helping the environment.
"Imagine in a year's time we are able to intercept a billion gallons of water that would otherwise be going into Lake Erie. And, that water is not just potable water, that is combined sewer," sewer district employee Buck Depew said.
To handle all the water, the district has three pumping stations already processing billions of gallons of wastewater a year. And, we can all do our part to make that job easier.
"Don't pollute. Pick up trash, because that wet-weather flow that's going into the catch basins that we are capturing comes down into this tunnel," Depew said.
Before long, the crane that lowered our cage into the sewer shaft had lifted us up to solid ground within minutes.
Once on top, we spoke with NEORSD's Jennifer Elting about the district's efforts to conserve the surrounding wetlands that were leveled for construction. She said they're committed to helping the environment.
"We are doing everything that we can to put it right back, how it was in the first place," Elting said.
The restoration also includes bringing back the salamanders that were relocated when work started on the site.
To read more about Project Clean Lake, click HERE.