Note: STIR protested the original WWTP permit for NACA forcing Arkansas to drop the proposed phosphorus limit from 1 mg/liter to point-one (0.1) making NACA the only WWTP in the Illinois River watershed operating below 1 mg/l total phosphorus.
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Illinois River group appeals plant permit
Oklahomans cite phosphorus concerns
November 7, 2009 by Robert J. Smith
LOWELL — An Illinois River advocacy group filed the only appeal of a sewage-discharge permit issued to the Northwest Arkansas Conservation Authority.
The deadline to appeal the permit’s issuance was Friday.
The lone appeal came from Save the Illinois River, a not-for-profit group based in Tahlequah, Okla., that monitors activities in the Illinois River watershed.
The organization said the permit, issued Oct. 7 by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality,violates the federal Clean Water Act. The group claims that the sewer plant - under construction west of Lowell - would pollute the Illinois River, which Oklahoma has designated as a scenic river.
“Neither Oklahoma nor Arkansas has conducted required studies to determine how much phosphorus can be added to the streams without causing further impairment,” said Kurt Robinson, president of the environmental group, in a prepared statement. “Oklahoma’s phosphorus limit for the Illinois River may be impossible to achieve becauseof the [conservation authority’s] facility.
“Tenkiller Lake, one of Oklahoma’s finest water resources, will suffer even further from algae growth if this permit is allowed to stand.”
John Sampier, the conservation authority’s director, said he hasn’t reviewed the appeal.
“Our attorney will be doing that,” Sampier said. “We look forward to fully cooperating and working with the ADEQ concerning this matter.”
The authority’s plant, which is expected to beoperating late next year to serve Bentonville and Tontitown, has been at the center of a dispute among Arkansas, Oklahoma and the federal Environmental Protection Agency regarding phosphorus discharges into Osage Creek. The creek is a tributary of the Illinois River, and the sewer plant’s treated discharges would flow into Oklahoma.
The conservation authority’s permit allows it to discharge 0.1 milligrams of phosphorus in each liter of treated sewage. The authority and Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality favored discharging 1 milligram, but the EPA’s resolute opposition caused the state to issue the permit at 0.1.
Fayetteville, Rogers, Springdale and other cities with sewer plants in the Illinois River watershed are allowed to discharge 1 milligram of phosphorus per liter, but some city officials anticipate being forced to cut phosphorus when new federal five-year permits are issued.
Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality spokesman Skylar McElhaney said state officials there didn’t appeal the permit. She said Oklahoma has other legal options, but she wouldn’t say what those options are or whether the stateintends to pursue them.
The next step in the appeal process is a preliminary hearing that’s likely to be held by telephone Dec. 2, said Michael O’Malley, administrative hearing officer for the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission. The commission determines the environmental policy of the state, and it handles appeals of permits issued by the state’s Environmental Quality Department.
The hearing will set out a schedule, but it’ll be next year before O’Malley sends his recommended decision to the commission. The commission would then meet and vote whether to adopt his recommendation or reject it, O’Malley said.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 11/07/2009
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