by Ken Midkiff
Hinkson Creek is documentably impaired. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) placed it on the 303(d) List in 1998, after several studies and reports from various state and federal agencies showed that the creek did not fully support warm water aquatic life. (There are three tiers of aquatic life: warm water, cool water (smallmouth bass, for example) and cold water (trout and sculpins, for example).
Hinkson Creek is a warm water stream and, as such, would never harbor trout). The Missouri Department of Conservation gave information on past fish kills. Voluntary water quality monitors pointed to a dearth of pollution-sensitive macro-invertebrates.
In 1999, the American Canoe Association and the Sierra Club, noticing that hardly ever did MDNR or the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) do a Total Maximum Daily Load (TDML) study, sued the EPA for failure to cause MDNR to comply with the federal Clean Water Act. As a result of the lawsuit, the EPA caved and agreed to have MDNR conduct 174 TMDL studies by December 31, 2009. EPA further agreed that if MDNR failed to meet that deadline, EPA would finish things up by December 31, 2010.
A brief word about a TMDL study: the purpose is to determine the pollutant(s) causing the impairment and to recommend reductions so that the waterbody returns to a healthy state.
Since no one pollutant or group of pollutants could be pointed to as the cause of Hinkson Creek failing to support warm water aquatic life, MDNR and later EPA Region 7 (MO, KS, NB, and IA), used stormwater runoff as a surrogate for “unknown pollutants”. MDNR and EPA took note of the increased amount of stormwater runoff, the increasing amount of impervious surfaces (where rainwater does not soak in, but quickly runs off), and the “flashiness” of Hinkson Creek, and figured there must be a connection between all the contaminants carried in stormwater runoff and the impairment of Hinkson Creek.
EPA, complying with the federal court order, drafted a proposed TMDL, with assistance from staffers at MDNR who had failed to complete a TMDL study by the December 31, 2009, deadline. EPA sent out its draft TMDL for comments.
Enter the Osage Group of the Sierra Club.
Agreeing with the EPA that the Hinkson Creek should be restored to health and the way to do that was to reduce stormwater runoff, the Osage Group embarked upon a media crusade to allow EPA to appropriately respond to comments, rather than responding to the “spin machines” of the City of Columbia, the County of Boone, and the University of Missouri- Columbia, entities that were adamantly opposed to the proposed 39.6% reduction in stormwater runoff. Enlisting the aid of attorney David Shorr, the 3 entities submitted somewhat harsh and negative comments.
But, the “PR machines” of Columbia, Boone County, and UMC never had a chance to spin out their message, because our message was out first and was all over the print media, radio and TV. The only recourse for the PR machines was to react to our constant bombardment. For example, a letter signed by Mayor Bob McDavid was sent to EPA, in which McDavid purported to represent the position of the City Council, even though the City Council had never even considered the matter. He admitted he was wrong. This was front page in the Columbia Daily Tribune.
The City Council meeting of January 18, 2011, was the culmination. Mayor McDavid decided, somewhat belatedly, to hold a full discussion on the Hinkson Creek TMDL and its stormwater runoff reduction. After listening to a string of halftruths from John Glascock, the City's Public Works Director, the public had its say. And say they did. From me, who harangued Chamber of Commerce lackeys on the City Council, to several citizens who talked about how they once swam and fished in Hinkson Creek, a parade of proponents of the Hinkson Creek TMDL addressed the City Council. Undeterred by all these comments and data, the bought-and paid-for members of the City Council voted to support the comments of David Shorr, by a vote of 5-2. Barbara Hoppe (6th Ward) and Paul Sturtz (1st Ward) voted “NO”.
The final TMDL was issued on January 28, 2011 and was essentially as originally drafted. Reason prevailed.
But, it is difficult to stop a juggernaut. Rather than things settling down after the TMDL was finalized, the media continues to cover this matter. Hardly a day goes by in which I am not interviewed on the Hinkson Creek TMDL issue.