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By Ben Sutherly, Staff Writer Updated 11:59 PM Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Five communities along the Stillwater River will get a regulatory reprieve after the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency significantly cut its pollution estimates for the state scenic river.

The rare revisions mean the cities of Englewood and Union likely won’t have to make more than $1 million in combined upgrades to their wastewater treatment plants. Neither city had firm estimates.

The Miami County communities of West Milton, Pleasant Hill and Covington also will no longer be subject to limits on phosphorus. In abundance, that nutrient can harm aquatic wildlife by depleting oxygen in the water. It is discharged by sewage treatment plants, farms and failing septic systems.

The EPA revised the pollution estimates for the watershed after the Miami Conservancy District publicly questioned them, saying data it collected show the river is far less polluted by phosphorus.

Union and Englewood have appealed the EPA’s phosphorus limits to the Environmental Review Appeals Commission. Their cases are scheduled to be heard in September, though those hearings may no longer be necessary.

“I’m ecstatic and vindicated,” said Eric A. Smith, Englewood’s city manager. “It’s a message to other communities that you have to stand up for yourself sometimes and question authority.”

The EPA doesn’t plan to revise Total Maximum Daily Load reports for other watersheds, said Trinka Mount, who oversees the EPA’s TMDL program.

“If we had data like that presented in other watersheds, we’d consider going back and looking at those TMDLs, but that’s generally not the case,” she said.

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