Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Media contact: Forrest Peterson, 320-214-3789 Technical contact: Lisa McCormick, 320-297-3825 Toll-free: 1-800-657-3864 St. Paul, Minn. -- Since last fall the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has been meeting with about 40 larger communities and industries in the Minnesota River Basin to develop a new permit regulating the amount of phosphorus discharged by their wastewater treatment facilities. On June 13, the MPCA will begin a series of meetings with smaller communities and organizations that also will be included and may be affected by the new, basin-wide phosphorus permit. The overall basin-wide goal is a 35 percent reduction in phosphorus by 2010 and final compliance with phosphorus loading limits by 2015. Representatives from about 150 smaller communities and organizations with wastewater discharges to the Minnesota River or major tributaries have been invited to meetings in Mankato on June 13, Granite Falls on June 14, and Redwood Falls on June 15. One goal of these meetings is to discuss how future growth and expansions may be impacted. Most of these facilities use ponds where biological treatment of waste occurs, with discharges only permitted in the spring and fall. While they will be included in the permit, many of the smaller communities are already meeting their requirements. The proposed phosphorus permit would be in addition to the existing wastewater discharge permits required for all facilities in the basin. 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. Excessive amounts of phosphorus can cause pollution by promoting 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. 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. Reducing phosphorus will reduce algae in the water. "This provides a fair, cost-efficient method for achieving the overall goal of reducing pollution caused by phosphorus at a major monitoring point near Jordan," says Wendy Turri, Municipal Wastewater Manager in the MPCA's Municipal Division. "The permit is one result of the Lower Minnesota River Dissolved Oxygen Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) project that was completed and approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2004." Other sources of phosphorus include stormwater runoff from city streets and parking lots, storm sewers, inadequate private septic systems, and erosion from farmland and construction sites. These are being addressed using practices such as vegetated filter strips, stormwater retention basins and silt fences. Some larger communities will be required to make major phosphorus reductions in their treated wastewater discharge, or engage in pollutant trading to meet their limit. The city of Marshall is the single largest municipal phosphorus contributor in the basin with 33,585 pounds per year. The permit would require a reduction by nearly half, to 18,807 pounds by the year 2010. The second-largest contributor, Willmar, would drop from 27,894 pounds to 16,164 pounds of phosphorus per year. Minnesota River Basin phosphorus permit community meetings are scheduled as follows:
· June 13, 1-4:30 p.m., Mankato Public Library, communities with pond facilities.
· June 14, 9 a.m.-noon, Granite Falls Kilowatt Community Center, communities with pond facilities.
· June 15, 9 a.m.-noon, Redwood Falls Community Center, communities with mechanical treatment facilities and continuous discharge of less than 1,800 pounds of phosphorus per year.
For more information about the meetings contact Lisa McCormick, 320-214-5343, lisa.mccormick@pca.state.mn.us. For more information about the Minnesota River Basin phosphorus permit, contact Steve Sommer, 651-282-5851, steve.sommer@pca.state.mn.us. General information on the MPCA's strategy for phosphorus reduction is available on the Web at hhref="/water/phosphorus.html.