Sees Central Role for Groups Like Prairie Rivers Network

by Kim Knowles, Water Resources Specialist

Lisa-Jackson
Lisa Jackson; Photo credit: EPA

The times they are a-changin’. At least in word, we’ve come a long way from the days when W’s EPA refused to recognize carbon dioxide as a pollutant and issued rules that made it easier to mine coal by blasting off mountain tops and filling streams and valleys with the refuse. In a breath of fresh air, US EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson publicly admitted last summer that the EPA is not doing enough to deliver clean and safe water to our communities. Administrator Jackson directed her staff to boost enforcement actions against serious violators and to provide more information on the EPA web site in a form that is easily understood and useable.

With kudos to environmental groups like Prairie Rivers Network, she declared, “We have seen that when information is made public, it can be a powerful tool to help improve the environment directly. An informed public is our best ally in pressing for better compliance.”

Is this a new world, or just lofty language? Has US EPA delivered? Well, so far so good. At Prairie Rivers we’ve already noticed an improvement in the information made available by US EPA on facilities that pollute our waterways and on the compliance records of those facilities. It is now easier to find the physical location where pollution enters our streams and lakes as well as information on the health of our waterways and, in some cases, on-line copies of the permits that govern pollutant discharges. We’ve been asking the Illinois EPA for better access to such information for years.

It seems US EPA aims to deliver on its enforcement promise as well. According to our partners in Tennessee, EPA recently brought enforcement actions against two Clean Water Act violators demanding penalties of $68,000 and $335,000 respectively!

This naturally begs the question, what about Illinois? Although Illinois’ enforcement program received a favorable review from US EPA in 2007 compared to other states, according to Ms. Jackson, US EPA “needs to raise the bar for clean water enforcement programs” because “we have a long way to go” to clean and safe water. With 56% of the miles of streams studied in Illinois still not meeting public health and environmental goals set nearly four decades ago, we think there’s room for improvement in the enforcement program.

Illinois facilities are doing well in self-reporting (89% submitted the required monitoring reports in 2008) and the IEPA is resolving some of the problems informally, but the state appears loath to impose penalties. In 2008, Illinois levied $0.00 against CWA violators though 82% were in some form of non-compliance. In contrast, Louisiana imposed penalties of $401,000.

Prairie Rivers Network has been steadily increasing the pressure on IEPA to hold violators accountable and requesting that penalties be imposed to send a clear message that the law must be observed! We are expanding our own enforcement work and will pursue legal action against repeat offenders.

While admittedly there’s still “a long way to go” to clean and safe water, let’s take a moment or two to recognize and celebrate the progress at US EPA. Salud, Lisa Jackson.