About
the organizer |
Agency okays more pollution for contaminated streams
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources issues state operating permits to industrial dischargers that are inherently designed to fail - essentially permitting pollution. Each permit is issued in a vacuum - it's assumed that the receiving stream is pristine (it seldom is), and there is no assessment of cumulative impacts (as if each permitted facility is the only one in a watershed). Further, each permit in a watershed allows the discharge of the maximum contaminant load (do the math!), and the agency often sets permit limits that exceed state limits. Facilities frequently operate with permits that expired years ago. Permitting pollution results in polluted waterways. Federal clean water law requires states to produce a list of its polluted waters every two years. When streams are listed as 'impaired' it triggers the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) process, which requires the writing and implementation of a cleanup plan for the waterway. Unfortunately, at that point, the cleanup costs are passed on to all Missouri taxpayers. Missouri's Water Sentinels project continues the Ozark Chapter's long involvement in Missouri's impaired waters listing processes. In 2001, the successful settlement of the chapter's federal lawsuit over Missouri's polluted waters list resulted in several important victories for clean water: a more accurate and complete impaired water list (from approximately 40 to 260 stream segments); initial TMDLs being written; improvements to the state's water quality regulations and listing criteria; greatly increased utilization of volunteer data; and several other important reforms. The USEPA and the state are currently operating under this Consent Decree and several Memorandums of Understanding. The Water Sentinels project will continue to work to add our polluted
urban waterways to the state's "impaired" list, and will
continue to press the state to stop permitting pollution. Photo: River Des Peres (aka River Despair) with a sewer line down the middle, in St. Louis. Photo by Scott Dye. Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club |
The
sorry state of Missouri's urban rivers and streams is a direct result
of several factors - poor municipal planning, weak state permits
that fail to protect our streams and a nearly complete lack of any
state enforcement.