Neighbors fight developer’s proposal for sewage treatment plant
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A developer is asking the city for permission to build a sewage treatment plant on the west side, but many people living in the area are against the idea.
The Ben Davis Conservancy District wants to build the plant on a 7-acre plot of land in the 900 block of South Tibbs Avenue near I-70.
The proposal has its supporters, but Jonathan Howe, president of the West Indianapolis Neighborhood Congress, is not one of them.
Howe says the west side has been an industrial dumping site for too long and it’s time to take a stand.
“The claim is, it wouldn’t have any smell and it wouldn’t impact the area, but the research and science don’t support those claims,” Howe said. “The reality is, it is right off of I-70, which is the gateway to our community from the airport.
Howe also takes issue with BDCD’s claim that the new treatment plant will help cut costs for maintaining sewer lines to the north and west of the area. Citizens Energy Group currently treats that waste, according to Howe, and it has been looking to raise rates.
“We have an entity that has only dealt with sewer lines who now claims they can build a whole treatment facility plant and do it cheaper than Citizens and it won’t have any smell,” Howe said.
Despite the opposition of Howe and others in the neighborhood, the project looks poised to proceed.
On Thursday, the Metropolitan Development Commission determined that the site of the proposed treatment plant could be rezoned. It’s not final approval of the project, but it is a step in that direction.
Howe says the West Indianapolis Neighborhood Congress will appeal the decision.
“The city has decided to double down and say, ‘We don’t want to invest in cleaning, we don’t want to invest in greenspaces, we don’t want to invest in a healthy environment. We want to force people out rezone by rezone,’” Howe said.
After Thursday’s zoning decision, the Ben Davis Conservancy District sent the following statement to I-Team 8:
“The Ben Davis Conservancy District is pleased with the recommendation of the Hearing Examiner. We believe that the rezoning will provide for substantial improvement to the area in question, eliminate the potential for heavy industrial use of the property, and minimize environmental issues for residents of the Westside. This will occur while keeping rates affordable for residents and businesses within the Ben Davis Conservancy District.”