GLIN==> Serial Spillers: Groups Sue to Stop Chicago Water Regulators from Polluting the Chicago River

http://www.nrdc.org/media/2011/110503.asp

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Press contact: Josh Mogerman, NRDC, 312-651-7909; Jack Darin, Sierra
Club, 312-251-1680 x112; Glynnis Collins, Prairie Rivers Network,
217-344-2371

 

Serial Spillers: Groups Sue to Stop Chicago Water Regulators from
Polluting the Chicago River

 

MWRD's illegal sewage discharges mucking waterways from Chicago to Gulf
of Mexico

 

CHICAGO (May 3, 2011) - A coalition of conservation groups have sued to
stop the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) from dumping raw
sewage mixed with stormwater, as well as algae-fueling pollution, into
the Chicago River system. Effluent from MWRD's sewage treatment plants
and combined sewer overflow pipes regularly violate Clean Water Act
standards in the River, impacting downstream waters from Chicago all the
way to the Gulf of Mexico according to the suit. 

"Keeping raw sewage out of our waters is the District's core
responsibility," said Ann Alexander, Senior Attorney with the Natural
Resources Defense Council. "Yet the problem continues unabated, even
after three decades and billions of taxpayer dollars. Chicagoland
shouldn't have to wait any longer for the District to do its job right."


NRDC, Sierra Club and Prairie Rivers Network filed a federal lawsuit
today in the Northern District of Illinois over the regional water
treater's pollution problem. The suit points to discharges of pollution
from treatment plants that regularly violate federal standards requiring
that discharges not cause or contribute to low levels of oxygen, which
fish need to breath; and unnatural sludge or growth of algae, which
harms other forms of life in the water.  

MWRD manages water infrastructure in the nearly 900 square mile region
in Cook County. This includes the area's sewer lines and sewage
treatment plants, most notably the three plants that are the subject of
the lawsuit - Calumet, North Side, and Stickney.  These plants, the
largest in Illinois, are authorized to release over a billion gallons of
wastewater every day to Chicago waters, and that wastewater contains
large amounts of phosphorus. Excess phosphorus acts as an unnatural
fertilizer triggering growth of algae, aquatic plants and bacteria that
block sunlight needed by other aquatic life, sucks the oxygen out of the
water, and can potentially be toxic.  

Phosphorus is also a major cause of the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico,
a huge area in the Gulf where fish and other forms of life cannot
survive. Chicago waters, which consist primarily of effluent from the
MWRD plants, have been shown to be the largest single contributor of
phosphorus to the Dead Zone. As treatment plants around the region
address phosphorus, MWRD has fallen behind results achieved by water
systems in many Midwestern cities and towns, including Detroit,
Milwaukee, and Minneapolis.

MWRD's water infrastructure also includes dozens of overflow points
where untreated sewage combined with storm water pour into the river
during rain events that overwhelm the District's treatment plants.  The
sewer system of Chicago, like many older cities, combines waste water
with storm water, sending both through the same system of pipes to the
sewage treatment plants that are spread around the Chicago area. Because
the system is combined, stormwater floods the pipes beyond the capacity
of sewage treatment plants, forcing raw sewage and rain water directly
to Chicago waters through overflow pipes.  

The release of raw sewage from MWRD's plants can kill fish, because it
takes away the oxygen the fish need to breathe.  The District's own
reports state that the waters receiving its combined sewer overflows
violate dissolved oxygen standards a substantial percentage of the time
in parts of the Chicago River. Combined sewage and stormwater from the
District can also flood basements and force opening of the locks to Lake
Michigan. 

"We shouldn't have raw sewage in the Chicago River every time we get a
big rainstorm," said Jack Darin, Director of the Illinois Chapter of the
Sierra Club. "Upgrading Chicago's sewers to modern standards will not
only give us a healthy river, it will create good jobs when Chicagoans
need them the most."

"The millions of dollars MWRD has spent to fight off a cleaner Chicago
River could have moved us forward on dealing with the nutrient pollution
that fouls waters downstate and in the Gulf of Mexico," said Glynnis
Collins, Executive Director of Prairie Rivers Network, referring to the
ongoing hearings before the Illinois Pollution Control Board concerning
Illinois EPA's proposal to improve water quality standards in Chicago
area waterways.  "The City, State, and Feds all want to get this
rolling. We hope the suit can help force the issue along." 

The three plaintiffs in this lawsuit have also been battling MWRD in the
Pollution Control Board hearings on the question of whether the District
should be required to disinfect its sewage effluent, as is done in
almost all other major cities across the nation.  

In addition to today's lawsuit by Chicago River advocates, there are
indications that MWRD is in consent decree discussions with the US
Department of Justice and USEPA over its outdated sewage infrastructure.
This comes a week after USEPA released guidance that "encourages" cities
to use green infrastructure to the "maximum extent possible" for
stormwater and CSOs.  

In a recent settlement with the USEPA and US Department of Justice, one
of the central solutions to similar issues in Cleveland-area waterways
is a significant embrace of large-scale green infrastructure projects
that use natural systems and materials to hold and clean water in heavy
storm events. This green infrastructure can be part of a comprehensive
and cost-effective way for cities to address combined sewer overflow
problems and improve water quality.  Other cities throughout the
Midwest, including Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Aurora, Illinois; and Lenaxa,
Kansas, are using green infrastructure to reduce the frequency and
severity of combined sewer overflows, while improving neighborhoods and
reducing infrastructure costs. Additionally, the work in Cleveland has
been estimated to produce 30,000 jobs in northeast Ohio.

 

Additional Resources:

*         Court filings on the suit can be found at
http://docs.nrdc.org/water/wat_11050301.asp

 

*	USEPA's "Recent Examples of Green Infrastructure in Permits and
Enforcement Actions"
<http://www.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/gi_memo_protectingwaterquality.pdf> 
*	"Re-Envisioning the Chicago River"
<http://www.nrdc.org/water/chicagoriver/chicagoriver.asp>  highlights
potential positive impacts from the use of green technologies to relieve
pressure on the stressed water infrastructure throughout Chicagoland
*	"Rooftops to Rivers
<http://www.nrdc.org/water/pollution/rooftops/rooftops.pdf> " looks at
current uses of green technologies

 

______________________________________

Thomas Cmar

Natural Resources Defense Council

2 N. Riverside Plaza, Ste. 2250

Chicago, IL 60606

(312) 651-7906

tcmar at nrdc.org <mailto:tcmar at nrdc.org> 

 

PRIVILEGE AND CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE

This message is intended only for the addressee and may contain
information that is privileged, confidential, and exempt from disclosure
under law. 

If you are not the intended recipient, please notify me immediately by
email and delete the original message.

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.great-lakes.net/lists/glin-announce/attachments/20110503/8e1e1390/attachment.html