Water Pollution to be Subject of Public Hearing

On Thursday evening a public hearing will be held to discuss a controversy surrounding the City of
Alton’s Sewage Treatment Plant. The hearing will take place at 7 pm at the Alton Days Inn (1900 Homer Adams Parkway).
Prairie Rivers Network, a statewide river conservation group based in Champaign, Illinois, along with the Illinois Chapter of the Sierra Club called for the hearing and will be testifying against a water pollution permit that would allow the Alton Sewage Treatment Plant to release increased levels of pollutants to the Mississippi River.
"Our rivers should be protected, not polluted," said Robert Moore, Executive Director of Prairie Rivers. "But Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is prepared to issue a permit that would allow Alton to double the pollution they release to the Mississippi River."
Under the Clean Water Act, sewage treatment plants must have a permit to release pollution to the nation’s rivers and streams. Alton is seeking to renew their water pollution permit, the conditions of which would allow increases in the amount of pollution they discharge to the Mississippi River.
The city is seeking permission to move their discharge pipe from Wood River Creek to the Mississippi River. By doing so Illinois EPA will allow them to double the amount of suspended solids they release as well as organic wastes that remove oxygen from the water as they decay. In addition the Agency will remove limits on the discharge of ammonia, a chemical that can be toxic to fish and is a nutrient that can contribute to algae blooms. Illinois EPA claims that, because the Mississippi is such a large river, the pollutants will be diluted.
However, the Illinois EPA’s own water quality reports indicate that this section of the Mississippi River is already impaired by high levels of nutrients and suspended solids.
Moore stated, "We should not make an existing water quality problem worse." He added that the Clean Water Act expressly forbids increasing discharges of pollutants that are already causing or contributing to water quality problems.
Alton Sewage Treatment Plant Hearing
Thursday, February 17th, 7 pm
Alton Days Inn, 1900 Homer Adams Parkway