PRESS RELEASE ISSUED: January 31, 2012

River, Lake Advocates Praise New Path Toward Better Flood Control, Cleaner Water, and Keeping Asian Carp Out of Great Lakes

A highly-anticipated report released today clearly demonstrates that it is possible to separate the artificial connection between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River basins and prevent the transfer of invasive species through the Chicago river system

The study, Restoring the Natural Divide, offers real alternatives to simply closing the locks between the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. Authored by the Great Lakes Commission and Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, representing governors and top officials from Great Lakes states, cities, and provinces, the report re-envisions the Chicago River as a system which not only prevents the transfer of aquatic invaders such as Asian carp, but also better serves its functions of moving people and goods and managing stormwater, while improving water quality.

Restoring the Natural Divide offers detailed analysis on three possible separation scenarios and includes a wealth of data on the integration of each scenario with the region’s water infrastructure, as well as an outline and timetable for implementation.

The study was prompted by the urgent need to find a solution to the the ongoing problem of invasive species, including Asian carp. Strong evidence suggests that the threat of Asian carp entering the Great Lakes is imminent and their potential to wreak ecological and economic havoc is real.

While Asian carp have been the public face of invasive species, they are among 39 species deemed “high risk” by the Army Corps of Engineers based on a propensity to invade and to inflict significant damage to new habitat.

Local and Federal Governments currently spend upwards of $200 million per year to control invasive species in the Great Lakes. Ending the continuing threat of transfer of these aquatic invaders through the Chicago River system will be essential to the region’s long-term economic well-being, and would complement plans for river restoration, increasing the value of Chicago’s second waterfront. {Continue Reading »}

REPORT:  “DIRTY DOZEN” IN ILLINOIS CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION BLOCKING PROTECTION OF PUBLIC HEALTH AGAINST “GRIM” TOXIC COAL ASH DUMP SITE POLLUTION ACROSS STATE

EIP and PRN “Name Names” of 12 Illinois U.S. Representatives Siding With Coal Industry Over Constituents Impacted by 22 Coal Ash Pollution Sites – 2^nd Largest Concentration in the U.S.

CHICAGO, IL.///August 17, 2011//Twelve members of Illinois’ Congressional delegation are working to block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from cleaning up toxic coal ash dump sites, even though Illinois has the second highest concentration in the U.S. of such pollution problems and in spite of the fact that state officials are doing nothing to clean up the problem, according to a  major new report released today by the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) and Prairie Rivers Network (PRN).

Titled “Illinois at Risk,” the EIP/PRN report concludes:  “Coal combustion waste or ‘coal ash’ is a toxic byproduct of electricity generation that is contaminating water supplies and harming communities across Illinois due to the lax regulation by the state in the absence of minimum federal standards.  Illinois has the second highest number of contaminated coal ash dump sites in the United States.   Data from groundwater sampling conducted by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) at coal ash disposal sites in 2010 is now available, and the results are grim. IEPA found exceedances of health standards for contaminants commonly found in coal ash in groundwater at all 22 sites evaluated in the state. Yet, in spite of years of documentation demonstrating that coal ash is polluting groundwater in communities across the state, Illinois regulators have done little to prevent or correct these ongoing problems.”

The report documents 22 total cases and highlights 10 case studies from the Illinois communities of Joliet, Venice, Hutsonville, Coffeen, Industry, Murdock, Vermilion, Coulterville, and Farmersville.

The report finds that, as part of a broader move by some in Congress to roll back clean water protections, 12 members of Illinois’ Congressional delegation – Reps. Peter Roskam (R-6^th), Joe Walsh (R-8^th), Robert Dold (R-10^th), Adam Kinzinger (R-11^th), Jerry Costello (D-12^th), Judy Biggert (R-13^th), Randy Hultgren (R-14^th), Donald Manzullo (R-16^th), Robert Schilling (R-17^th), Aaron Schock (R-18^th), and John Shimkus (R-19^th) — have voted to strip EPA’s ability to finalize ongoing rulemaking that would provide Illinois residents relief from toxic coal ash pollution.

Commenting on the findings, Traci Barkley, water resources scientist, Prairie Rivers Network, Champaign, IL., said: “When lead was discovered to be hazardous, it was taken out of paint and gasoline.  When asbestos was discovered to be dangerous, we stopped using it in our building materials.  Now that the scientific evidence is in on coal ash, we know coal ash is toxic and needs to be disposed as such.  The elected officials who still think it can be handled with fewer protections than household garbage obviously do not have Illinois residents’ best interests in mind.”

Jeff Stant, director, Coal Combustion Waste Initiative, Environmental Integrity Project, Indianapolis, IN., said, said:  “This is a clear case of elected officials siding with a dirty industry at the direct expense of the health of their own constituents.   In so doing, these Illinois Congressmen have given a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘Dirty Dozen.’  Even though major coal interests are mostly located outside of Illinois, the pain that would be felt by blocking the EPA from enforcing the Clean Water Act would be felt most acutely by resident of Illinois.   Illinois is a perfect example of why the federal EPA needs to be allowed to do its job when it comes to toxic coal ash pollution.”

Matt Wasson, director of programs, Appalachian Voices, Boone, NC, said: “Many of these members of Illinois’ congressional delegation aren’t just trying to block EPA from cleaning up coal ash, but they’re also supporting the greatest assault on the Clean Water Act in its 40 year history.”

To read the full report, including a full run down on coal-related voting record of the the 12 highlighted Illinois members of Cognress, go to http://www.environmentalintegrity.org and http://www.prairierivers.org.

How serious is the toxic coal ash dump site problem in Illinois?
According to the report: “Groundwater was contaminated at all 22 (Illinois) sites evaluated with results showing exceedances of at least one and usually more health standards such as drinking water standards (Maximum Contaminant Levels or MCLs) or health advisories set under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act in the groundwater underneath all disposal sites.   Monitoring data obtained from IEPA by the Environmental Integrity Project showed that arsenic concentrations were 15 times over the MCL in groundwater under the Meredosia Station’s ash ponds, more than nine times over the MCL under the Dallman Station’s ash ponds, and around five times higher than the MCL in groundwater contaminated by ash ponds at the Pearl and Waukegan Stations.  Lead was exceeding the MCL in groundwater under ash ponds at the Joppa and Powerton Stations.  Antimony was at least twice the MCL in groundwater contaminated under ash ponds at the Waukegen and Joliet 29 Stations.”

The EIP/PRN report notes that, if federally enforceable safeguards were applied to transport, storage and disposal of coal ash, the Illinois problem sites most likely would not have occurred as proper site assessments, tracking and monitoring and pollution controls such as covers, liners and cleanup standards would have been required.

ABOUT THE GROUPS

The Environmental Integrity Project (http://www.environmentalintegrity.org) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization established in March of 2002 by former EPA enforcement attorneys to advocate for effective enforcement of environmental laws.  EIP has three goals:  1) to provide objective analyses of how the failure to enforce or implement environmental laws increases pollution and affects public health; 2) to hold federal and state agencies, as well as individual corporations, accountable for failing to enforce or comply with environmental laws; and 3) to help local communities obtain the protection of environmental laws.

Prairie Rivers Network (http://www.prairierivers.org) is Illinois’ statewide leader in river protection, conservation, and restoration. As a registered not-for-profit organization in Illinois, Prairie Rivers Network (PRN) is governed by a dedicated board of directors and funded with the support of passionate members throughout Illinois. Prairie Rivers Network works to protect Illinois’ rivers for people, fish, and wildlife.  Much of PRN’s work focuses on how policies such as the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act are used in Illinois—laws intended to protect our waters, our environment, and, ultimately, our health.  PRN is the state affiliate of National Wildlife Federation and a member of Earth Share of Illinois.

MEDIA CONTACTS: Leslie Anderson, for Environmental Integrity Project, at (703) 276-3256 or landerson@hastingsgroup.com; and Traci Barkley, for Prairie Rivers Network, at (217) 621-3013 or tbarkley@prairierivers.org.

EDITOR’S NOTE: A streaming audio recording of the news event will be available on the Web as of 3 p.m. CDT/4 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at http://www.environmentalintegrity.org and http://www.prairierivers.org.

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 breathe; and unnatural sludge or growth of algae, which harms other forms of life in the water.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  April 27, 2011

Implications for Illinois waterways not yet known

Yesterday the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) released draft guidance to provide clarification about which water bodies are subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act. The two agencies worked together to develop the new guidance on the regulatory program they both have a hand in implementing. The Act’s goal is to “restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters” by limiting how much pollution can be dumped into waterways.

The EPA has estimated that 1.6 million Illinois residents get their drinking water from waterways whose regulatory status was unclear. “This guidance is a welcome development. In Illinois, over half of our small streams and 150,000 acres of wetlands have been at risk for uncontrolled pollution and filling because of unclear rules. We’re not sure yet how the new guidance will change these numbers, but it looks to be a step in the right direction” said Glynnis Collins, Executive Director of Prairie Rivers Network, Illinois’ statewide river conservation organization. “We hope that the new guidance will lead to better protection of our drinking water and of the other essential services like flood protection and filtering pollution that our rivers, lakes, and wetlands provide Illinoisans.”

Since 1972 EPA and the Corps have enforced the Clean Water Act on “waters of the United States” until Supreme Court decisions in 2001 and 2006 created widespread uncertainty on the part of regulators and the regulated community about when water pollution must be authorized by a Clean Water Act permit.

The issue’s profile has risen in Washington DC during recent budget battles.  The House budget bill would have prevented federal agencies from taking the action announced yesterday, but the Senate refused to agree.

The draft guidance is on notice for a 60-day public comment period. It can be viewed here.  

According to Collins, “People should let their lawmakers know that they support protections for clean water – that we don’t want industry to have a pass to pollute what belongs to all of us, and is a vital foundation of our well being.”

Collins adds, “We shouldn’t forget Springfield either. States have broader authority than the federal government, and Illinois could drastically improve the health and safety of our waters by adopting rules and standards that are tougher than federal requirements; those rules could apply to all waters of the state too.”

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Illegal sewage discharges mucking waterways from Chicago to Gulf of Mexico

For immediate release: March 1, 2011

CHICAGO (March 1, 2011) – Water pollution illegally dumped from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s (MWRD’s) three sewage treatment plants and combined sewer overflow pipes has created a plume of harmful impacts stretching from Chicago all the way to the Gulf of Mexico according to notice of a suit delivered to MWRD today. Wastewater discharged by MWRD exceeds federal water pollution limits and violates state-issued permits. The problem is so severe that it wipes out oxygen in the water after big rains, and causes harmful, stinking mats of algae to form downstream of the MWRD plants.

“MWRD has flat-out admitted in its own reports that pollution from its sewer overflows harms the Chicago area waters it is supposed to be protecting,” said Ann Alexander, Senior Attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council. “They have spent three decades and billions of dollars on a Tunnel and Reservoir Project that was supposed to fix the overflow problem – and all the flooding, discharges to Lake Michigan, odors, and ‘floatables’ that come with it. We’re not willing to wait decades more for the District to comply with the law and clean up our waters.”

NRDC, Sierra Club and Prairie Rivers Network have given MWRD a legally-required 60-day notice of their intent to sue over the regional water regulator’s admitted pollution problem (notice, attachments). The notice points to discharges of pollution from treatment plants that regularly violate federal standards requiring that discharges not cause or contribute to unnatural sludge or growth of algae, which harms other forms of life in the water. Those standards further require that the water contain sufficient dissolved oxygen for fish to breathe.

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CHAMPAIGN, IL—In September 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a highly critical report highlighting a number of shortcomings in Illinois’ program to regulate factory farms. On November 1, Illinois EPA responded to the report by committing to a number of significant policy changes which, if implemented, have the potential to improve on a serious and longstanding failure of environmental protections in Illinois: insufficient regulation of factory farms that pollute. {Continue Reading »}