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Iowa News

Iowa, environmental groups agree
11/15/2001

By Mark Wolski

St. Paul, Minn.--The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has reached an agreement with environmental groups under which it will prepare cleanup plans for 157 polluted water bodies in the state (SAILORS Inc. v. Environmental Protection Agency, D.C. Iowa, No. C98-134, 10/26/01).

The agreement, part of a proposed consent decree filed Oct. 26 in U.S. District Court for the District of Iowa, requires the state to prepare 15 to 20 cleanup plans, known as total maximum daily loads (TMDLs), each year for the next 10 years. If it fails to prepare the cleanup plans, the federal Environmental Protection Agency would be required to do so.

Sol Simon, executive director of Mississippi River Revival of Winona, Minn., one of three environmental groups that sued EPA in 1998, said the suit was triggered by Iowa's failure to draft any TMDLs for its waterways. He said the state only began drafting TMDLs after the lawsuit was filed.

By not evaluating the pollution levels of its waterways and preparing TMDLs for them, as required under Section 303d of the Clean Water Act, the state failed to address its pollution problems, he said.

Larry McLellan of Sullivan & Ward of Des Moines, Iowa, attorneys for Save All Iowa Lakes, Oxbows Rivers and Streams Inc. (SAILORS) and Mississippi River Revival, said the lawsuit alleged that Iowa had failed to complete the Section 303d list for 1998 or develop TMDLs for the polluted waters. By the time EPA answered the lawsuit, he said, Iowa had submitted the list, which has been approved by the EPA.

The state has already begun abiding by the provisions of the settlement by drafting TMDLs for waterways in both 2000 and 2001, McLellan said. While it is still in the process of developing TMDLs for the waterways listed in its schedule for this year, the state has identified the waterways it will develop TMDLs for in 2002, he said.

The settlement also requires Iowa to complete TMDLs for the Cedar River by December 2005 and for the Raccoon River by December 2008. Both rivers are impaired by fecal coliform and nitrates, McLellan said. EPA also has agreed to more closely monitor certain segments of the Mississippi River, he said.

The proposed settlement calls for no penalties or fines, he added.

Once the TMDLs are developed, it is hoped the state will follow through with cleanup efforts. If it fails to do so, additional litigation could result, McLellan said.

McLellan noted that Iowa was not a party to the lawsuit, since EPA had the statutory authority to ensure that TMDLs were developed. However, the state has worked with both the plaintiffs and EPA in trying to resolve the lawsuit, he said.

The settlement could have a significant impact on Iowa, since it is a heavily agricultural state, he said. The TMDLs could affect farming operations if they identify certain water pollution as being triggered by agricultural chemicals. How the TMDLs are developed will determine that impact, he said.

The district court has scheduled a hearing on the proposed consent decree for Dec. 17. McLellan said he is hopeful the court will approve the settlement at that time.[Image]

Source: DNR

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