Contact: Anne Moore, 218-302-6605
Duluth, Minn. — The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is seeking comments on a water quality improvement report for Deer Creek, located in Carlton County. Comments are being accepted through April 23, 2013.
The report, known as a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), focuses on pollution caused by turbidity. Turbidity in water is caused by suspended sediment, organic material, dissolved salts and stains that scatter light in the water column and make it appear cloudy.
Sources of excess sediment entering Deer Creek include floodplain and streambank erosion, loss of riparian buffer from animal grazing, aging clay dam structures, road/trail crossings and land use activities that change watershed cover.
The TMDL report is part of a nationwide effort under the federal Clean Water Act to identify and clean up pollution in streams, rivers and lakes. Every two years, states are required to submit a list of impaired waters to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). A TMDL report is a scientific study that calculates the maximum amount of a pollutant a water body can receive, known as its "loading capacity," without exceeding water quality standards.
After receiving public comments, the MPCA will revise the draft TMDL report and submit it to the EPA for approval. Following EPA approval of the study, a plan will be developed to reduce pollution throughout the watershed.
The TMDL draft report is available on the MPCA's Public Notices webpage.
Comments should be submitted to Karen Evens, MPCA, 525 Lake Avenue, Suite 400, Duluth MN 55802, or by email to karen.evens@state.mn.us. For more information or to obtain a copy of the report, call Evens at 218-302-6644 or 1-800-657-3864.
Written comments must include a statement of your interest in the draft TMDL report; a statement of the action you wish the MPCA to take, including specific references to sections of the draft TMDL that you believe should be changed; and specific reasons supporting your position.
More information on the state's impaired waters list and TMDL studies is available at the MPCA’s Impaired waters and TMDLs webpage or by calling 1-800-657-3864.
