- MWRD of Greater Chicago is allowing untreated sewage to flow into the Chicago River.
As reported previously in our press release and covered by the New York Times:
Prairie Rivers Network has joined with the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club in notifying the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) that it intends to sue the District for illegally dumping pollution into Chicago area waters. Because the District is so big (its sewage treatment plants release billions of gallons of wastewater every day), the pollution is fouling waterways all the way from Chicago to the Gulf of Mexico.
The notification of intent to sue is the first formal step toward a lawsuit in federal court. Prairie Rivers Network and its partners are threatening a lawsuit because MWRD has steadfastly refused to remove phosphorus to safe levels. Too much phosphorus can be deadly to fish because it triggers the unnatural growth of algae. Algae then suck the oxygen out of the water, depriving fish and other life of the ability to breathe. Phosphorus from MWRD is helping cause the Dead Zone, a huge area in the Gulf of Mexico where fish and other forms of life cannot survive, because there’s not enough oxygen. Prairie Rivers Network is demanding that MWRD remove phosphorus to make the waters safe.
In addition to refusing to remove phosphorus, MWRD is allowing untreated sewage to flow into Chicago area waters. Untreated sewage also leads to low oxygen, because as microscopic bugs eat the raw sewage, they use up oxygen so it is not available for fish.
The release of raw sewage is a serious problem in Chicago and other older cities, where sewer systems channel rainwater and sewage into the same pipes. These pipes lead to sewage treatment plants, and during heavy rains, the plants are overwhelmed. Overflow pipes divert the rain and untreated sewage away from the plant and into the Chicago River and Lake Michigan.
Although MWRD believes that its Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP) will resolve the sewage overflow problem, the decades-old project has cost taxpayers more than $3 billion dollars to date, and is mired in delay with no end in sight. In the lawsuit, Prairie Rivers Network will seek innovative solutions that complement TARP, such as large-scale green infrastructure projects that use natural systems and materials to hold and clean water in heavy storm events.
Other cities throughout the Midwest, including Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Aurora, Illinois; and Lenaxa, Kansas, are using green infrastructure to reduce sewer overflows, improve neighborhoods and reduce sewage treatment costs. We think Chicago should do the same.
