Illinois

Summer, 2011 Updates:

The League of Women Voters of Illinois has instituted a Sustainable Food and Water Issues Specialist on the Issues Committee.  Sheri Latash of the Glenview League is the Specialist; you may contact her with questions/ideas at:  LWVFood@gmail.com.

Congratulations, Illinois, on bringing farming practices and other potential sources of contamination of the water table to the forefront!

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Pat Horton, Commissioner of the Chicago Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Board was welcomed to the LMLWV June Meeting for Q and A.   Chicago Leaguer Pat Graunke agreed to attend the twice-monthly meetings of the C MWRD and report back to us on their progress.  Not only is LMLWV thrilled to have Pat on board for this, but, as an LWV observer, she was welcomed back with open arms by the MWRD!  Flooding issues seem to be the main order of business this summer…

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Governor Quinn recently signed four bills of interest:

1. A new funding mechanism is created for collecting pharmaceuticals and ensuring their safe disposal.

2. Locked boxes would be allowed for collection of unused pharmaceuticals at city halls or police departments.

3. The reuse of recycled, treated wastewater would be allowed for purposes such as watering golf courses.

4.  An Off Shore Wind Energy Council will be appointed to “examine issues” relating to wind power generation in Lake Michigan.

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The Illinois delegation of the LMLWV needs more observers for the meetings of the Chicago Water Reclamation District, which meets Tuesday mornings in Chicago. Please contact us if you are  interested.

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Spring, 2011 Update on water and environment-related issues:

Governor Quinn vetoed a coal to gas bill stating that he won’t support technology at the expense of the consumers.  And there is a bill in the statehouse requiring factory farms to purchase a permit for water pollution, as do all other major industries that generate water pollution.

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LMLWV President Judy Johnston and Board Member Cheryl Chapman attended the Great Lakes Environmnetal Law Symposium at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law on March 4, 2011.   They report:

We were welcomed by Prof. A. Dan Tarlock and Chicago Park District General Superintendent and CEO Timothy W. Mitchell.

Susan Hedman, appointed as the EPA region 5 Administrator and Great Lakes national program manager, gave the keynote address.  Basically, her speech was about the EPA at 40.  She spoke of the history, beginning with the burning Ohio and Cuyahoga rivers, proceeded on to the Clean Water Act, gave information about CSOs (Combined Sewer Overflows) in our region and their levels of control as affected by finances and wet weather limits.

Today, the Chicago watershed is likely the biggest contributor of phosphorus and nitrogen to the hypoxy problem (dead zone) in the Gulf of Mexico.  Chicago manages to send 206 billion gallons of waste, including undisinfected effluents from water treatment plants, down river to the Mississippi yearly.  The Clean Water Act is updated every 3 years…and improvements are made along the way.

The major topic of the day, Confronting the Carp, was a panel presentation moderated by Professor Noah Hall, from Wayne State University Law School.  He distributed a handout entitled “Michigan vs US Army Corps of Engineers” which is about 20 pages of memoranda, opinion, and order of the case.  Noah expressed the  opinion an appeal could happen in the future.

Here is a sampling of the presenters’ ideas:

1. Tom Smart, National Resources Defense Council:  We need to think BIG and in terms of regional cooperation.  Invasives, not just carp, are the real issue.  He welcomes the new ballast water regulations, and sees litigation as the route to elevating a problem like invasives, including carp, into the development of a permanent solution.
   

2. Dan Bock, Office of the Michigan Attorney General.  He, along with certain Native American tribes, sued Illinois over the Asian carp problem, unsuccessfully.  Legally, they pretty much turn over any rock they can find, such as the Public Nuisance Act and administrative procedures, the definition of “Unforeseen Circumstances” in an Illinois/Wisconsin water law – anything at all – and try to protect Lake Michigan for their state.  He often mentioned the anecdotes from a man called Duane Chapman (no relation to me but wishful!) and the power of his stories to dismay the listeners in relation to Asian Carp.

3. David Rieser, Coalition to Save our Waterways.  His position is that the closing of the locks would wreak too much economic havoc on the IL/IN/Chicagoland region.  He spoke to the EPA’s approval of certain measures already in place and does not see the need for closing the locks.

The next panel was:

Effluent Limitations in the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS)

Moderator was Michael Hawthorne, from the Chicago Tribune.  Mr. Hawthorne, as a prominent environmental reporter asked, “Why should we wait any longer?  We’ve waited 50 years for a solution to the pollution in the Chicago River.  It’s time!”  He also presented the question of whether or not to disinfect our wastewater to the panelists, and of course, got a variety of responses.

Panelists included:

1. Frederic P. Andes, Esq., Barnes & Thornburg LLP.  Mr. Andes looked at the problem from a legal standpoint at the federal level, and found that federal requirements for disinfection are not relevant to Chicago at all.  Effluent standards vary from state to state.  IF disinfection is mandated, is it fair to make Cook County taxpayers foot the bill, when it’s a state issue?  His opinion is no, the WRD shouldn’t have to.

2. Cathy Breitenbach, Chicago Park District.  Cathy, being literally a hands-on person when it comes to the Chicago River, supports all efforts possible in cleaning up Chicago waterways, mentioning the “ick factor” as a good enough reason if nothing else!  For canoers, kayakers, boats…waders, swimmers, fishers, etc., clean water counts!

3. Albert Ettinger, Environmental Attorney.  Mr. Ettinger spoke as an attorney, one with a vision, a more holistic approach.  “Be all you can be” sums up his viewpoint nicely.  He made the point that you can’t separate the combined sewer overflow problem from the non-disinfection problem.  And, although the solutions are said to be too costly, or to have some other impossibility impeding their implementations, something must be done.  The Illinois law is made to complement the federal law, and as he said, “You can’t point to something you aren’t doing as a reason not to do something else.”  Which is precisely what happens!

4. Margaret Frisbie, Friends of the Chicago River.  She very much concurred along the same lines as Breitenbach and Ettinger.

5. Dr. Thomas Granato, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District.  Dr. Granato pointed out that the MWRD already does some disinfection, but that in assessing the impact of disinfection, the research does not prove it to be an effective method for cleaning up the waterways.  So, his viewpoint is no, do not disinfect further.  But, at least as a scientist, he and his team at the MWRD are continually researching cost/benefits studies and other possible solutions.
   

The next panel’s topic was:

The Future of the Chicago Waterway System

Moderator was Molly Flanagan of the Joyce Foundation, which awards grants to improve the quality of life in the Great Lakes.

Panelists included:

1. Gideon Blustein, Illinois Chamber of Commerce.  He spoke to both the issues of water quality and invasives.  As you might guess, he is looking for common sense solutions to both problems. He stated that if we were to close the locks, the impact would result in more flooding south of the City, and 30 million tons of barge-shipped commodities that would require 300,000 more railroad cars, trucks, etc, increasing the CO2 levels greatly.  He also spoke to the current efforts to solve the problem:  There is a 3^rd electronic barrier, begun in 1996, which still needs completion.  Commercial fishing could be a possible solution.  To somehow remove all of the downstream carp is a dream as well.  Adjusting the oxygen levels so that the carp can’t survive could work, as could “sound technology” (noises that repel the fish).

2. Henry Henderson, Natural Resources Defense Council and David Ullrich, Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Cities Initiative

Both men spoke to the urgency of the approaching carp problem, and agree that legislative approaches will drag on too long, and before we can do anything about it, the problem will spin out of control.  The goal is to deal with invasive species, water quality, flooding, and transportation in such a way that we can figure out dramatically different approaches to environmental problem-solving.  Ullrich pits the “narrow interest of marginalized waterway usage” against our waters being a metaphorical “gateway to the metropolis of the heartland.”  “Don’t embrace decline!” he cautions.  The hope is that people will make intelligent interventions within the context of strategic improvements that can be built upon in the future.  “Invest, improve, and protect!”

3. David Wethington, US Army Corps of Engineers.  Mr. Wethington in 2009 assumed project management responsibility for the Great Lakes & Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS).

Note:  Go to glmris.anl.gov or to www.facebook.com/glmris to make comments about your positions there!

GLMRIS people have looked at potential pathways for the Asian carp to enter the Great Lakes, they have inventoried the other nuisance invasive species, and they do what they can to figure out the range of technologies that might be effective in combating the invasives.   As he spoke about what the Army Corps has done so far, it was apparent that he feels they are doing all they can possibly do to stop the carp.  He spoke very knowledgably about the DNA procedures and limitations, and about the carp barrier as well.

Other handouts (feel free to borrow – contact Cheryl at ccfritter@yahoo.com):

1. Excerpts Re:  Michigan v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, et.al. from: Great Lakes Law (www.greatlakeslaw.org)  A blog on all things wet and legal in the Great Lakes Region by Professor Noah Hall
2. a 10 page “Kansas Natural Resource Council, Inc. and Sierra Club, Plaintiffs, v. Christine T. Whitman, William W. Rice, and the USEPA, Defendants
3. Notice of filing in the matter of:  Water Quality Standards and Effluent Limitations for the Chicago Area Waterway System and the Lower Des Plaines River… 8 pages.
4. Notice of filing in the matter of:  (same as above, with more amendments) 24 pp.
5. Public Comment:  Submission of Letter from USEPA in the matter of #3 above
6. Environmental Law and Policy Center letter to EPA regarding objections and post-hearing comments regarding Stickeny Water Reclamation Plant; North Side WRP, and Calumet WRP (13 pages)
7. Great Lakes Commission Fact Sheet:  Envisioning a Chicago Area Waterway System for the 21^st Century

Respectfully submitted,

Cheryl Chapman and Judy Johnston, LMLWV