Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Media contact: Forrest Peterson, 320-214-3789 Technical contact: Steve Sommer, 651-282-5851 Toll-free: 1-800-657-3864 St. Paul, Minn. -- The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is accepting public comments through July 28, 2005 on a draft general permit that will regulate phosphorus in discharges from wastewater treatment facilities in the Minnesota River Basin. Public information meetings will be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. July 20 at the Granite Falls Kilowatt Center, and July 21 at the Best Western Inn near Highway 169 in North Mankato. The Minnesota River Basin encompasses nearly 17,000 square miles and is a major contributor of pollutants to the Mississippi River and eventually the Gulf of Mexico. The initial goal of this permit is a combined 35 percent reduction in phosphorus discharges from existing levels by 2010. The ultimate goal is to limit phosphorus discharges from wastewater treatment facilities to 1 milligram per liter by 2015. Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for living things, but too much can cause water pollution by promoting excessive algae growth. When large amounts of algae are consumed by bacteria it results in reduced levels of dissolved oxygen available for fish and other aquatic life. Algae also impairs water quality by contributing to turbidity or cloudiness. For the past year the MPCA has been meeting with 40 of the largest wastewater treatment facilities in the basin representing major cities and industry. These larger communities will be required to meet a limit on the total amount of phosphorus discharged from their facilities each year or engage in pollutant trading to meet that limit. The permit will also include about 130 smaller wastewater treatment facilities; however these facilities will not be subject to a phosphorus limit under this permit unless they intend to expand. One benefit of a basin-wide permit for phosphorus covering all communities is that it will allow them to work together to solve the problem and use innovative tools such as pollutant trading. A community with excess wastewater treatment capacity may "sell" some to another community that needs to reduce the amount of phosphorus in its discharge. The phosphorus permit is a major tool in a Total Maximum Daily Load project to increase the level of dissolved oxygen during low flow periods in the Minnesota River from Shakopee to its confluence with the Mississippi River. When river flows are low, wastewater treatment facility discharges are a major source of phosphorus. More information about TMDL projects is available on the MPCA Web site at hhref="/water/tmdl/index.html. Other sources of phosphorus include stormwater runoff from city streets and parking lots, failing septic systems and erosion from farmland and construction sites. These will be addressed in an implementation plan, which will be completed later this year. Comments on the draft general National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit should be submitted in writing to Steve Sommer, MPCA Municipal Division, 520 Lafayette Road N., St. Paul, MN, 55155-4194, or e-mailed to steven.sommer@pca.state.mn.us, by 4:30 p.m., Thursday, July 28, 2005. Copies of the draft general permit are available on the Web at hhref="/permits, and also by calling 1-800-657-3864. General information on the MPCA phosphorus strategy is available on the Web at hhref="/water/phosphorus.html.