Indiana Clean Water Coalition

Sewage in Our Streams Newsletter

June 2002 Edition 

This newsletter is written and edited by Tom Neltner and Katy Kintzele of Improving Kids’

Environment.  For information about the newsletter articles, please contact Tom Neltner at mccabe@ikecoalition.org or 317-442-3973.  Click here for a version in Word.

Indiana Clean Water Coalition:  This newsletter was previously published by Improving Kids’ Environment.  As concerns and understanding of sewage in our streams has grown, a new group was formed to deal with the issue and other threats to clean water for Hoosiers.  This new group is called the Indiana Clean Water Coalition.  It represents many environmental organizations in Indiana that are concerned about the quality of Indiana’s water.  Members of the Coalition’s steering committee are Sandra Wilmore and Rae Schnapp (co-chairs), Dick Van Frank, Bowden Quinn, Bill Hayden, Tom Anderson, Katy Kintzele, Glenn Pratt, Laura Arnold, Tom Neltner and Joe Hailer.  You can reach Ms. Wilmore at (219) 879-3564 or sand@savedunes.org or Dr. Schnapp at 317-685-8800 or rschnapp@hecweb.org.  Tom Neltner is the editor for this newsletter.  He can be reached at 317-442-3973 or mccabe@ikecoalition.org.

Sewage in Our Streams Project:  The Coalition’s Sewage in our Streams Project will focus on three issues:  combined sewer overflows; confined animal feeding operations; and septic/sewage planning issues.  Improving Kids’ Environment is the lead organization for issues related to combined sewer overflows.  Tom Neltner is the Executive Director of IKE.  Katy Kintzele is an Associate working on the project.  The Environmental Careers Organization in Boston funds her work thanks to a grant from EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice.  

The Coalition will be releasing a series of special reports in the coming months.  The first report is summarized in this newsletter.  If you want details on any of the cities or reports, please contact Katy Kintzele at kintzele@ikecoalition.org or Tom Neltner at mccabe@ikecoalition.org.

1.                  CSO Communities that Fail to Properly Report Overflows:  See article below.

2.                   Sewage Bypasses and Sanitary Sewer Overflows:  Indiana municipalities reported more than 7,000 sewage bypasses, sanitary sewer overflows, and dry-weather combined sewer overflow events since 1997.  The municipalities reported more than 3.4 billion gallons were released to Indiana’s streams in the 5.3 years covered by IDEM’s documentation.

3.                   Sewer Connections to Municipal Treatment Plants:  Since 1993, IDEM has approved more than 10,000 sewer construction permits that discharge to Indiana streams.  The daily average design flow from these new connections often makes up more than 25% of the city’s treatment capacity.  IDEM approves these connections with virtually no regard to the impact on combined sewers.  It also does not appear to consider the cumulative impact on a municipality.  The process is akin to a consumer making purchasing decisions on a credit card based on the current balance in the checking account.  It can work but is risky and, when combined with bypass and overflow data, tells a story of neglect.

4.                   Long-Term Control Plans:  The Coalition is carefully reviewing the CSO Long-Term Control Plans that have been submitted.  It will be releasing the results of the review for each municipality, as they are available. 

The Myth of a Light Rain:  If it rains, the combined sewers overflow.  For years, that has been the mantra chanted by many CSO communities that are taking a leadership role on CSOs.  However, the new monthly combined sewer monthly reports revealing a different story.  Many of Indiana’s 105 CSO communities rarely have overflows or bypasses.  Two cities have come to IKE’s attention:  Michigan City and Knox. 

Michigan City is a city of 34,000 that is on the shores of Lake Michigan.  It can handle a rain event that is expected to occur once every five years.  In October 2001, they had an overflow occur only when they had two major rainstorms happen within a few days – something that is predicted to occur less frequently than five years.   Michigan City has been aggressively working to reduce combined sewer overflows for decades – and it shows. 

Knox – a town of 3,100 in nearby Starke County – does Michigan City one better!  It has not had an overflow or bypass since 1991.  You may notice them on the report below for failing to submit timely CSO monthly reports.  They indicate that they did submit the report in a timely manner but IDEM lost the paperwork.   The documents they sent to IKE supports its claim. 

Not all CSO communities are equal.  Aggressive action over many years makes a difference!  

28 CSO Communities Regularly Violate Reporting Requirements:  On October 21, 2001, IDEM instituted revised reporting requirements for combined sewer overflows.  Since then, 28 of Indiana’s 105 communities with combined sewer systems have regularly failed to either:

1.                   Submit a required monthly report on combined sewer overflows within the 10-day grace period; or

2.                   Constructively respond to IDEM’s written request to fix errors in report that were submitted.

Akron, East Chicago, Hammond, Jeffersonville, Knox, Ligonier, and Rockport are the most serious violators.  A complete listing of the 28 cities is attached.  Click here for a complete copy of the Coalition’s report.   Please note that the Town of Knox has provided IKE with documentation indicating that their reports were not late.  As with any summaries, the details are important.  Please check with your community and with IKE if you have questions, concerns or see a need for clarification. 

Between 3% and 12% of these 105 CSO communities either did not submit or submitted late their CSO monthly report.  After five months, the numbers are showing little improvement.  On the other hand, the forms that are completed show significant improvement – primarily due to IDEM follow-up.  IDEM has not completed its review of the completeness of the January and February 2002 monthly reports.  

Failing to submit a timely or complete report may seem like a minor issue – a paperwork violation.  However, the Indiana Clean Water Coalition believes the timely and complete reporting is critical for four reasons:

1.                   Now that IDEM has made the reporting straightforward, there is no “excuse” for failing to comply with the law and their permits. 

2.                   Without numbers, the problem could be ignored.  Timely and proper reporting overcomes the ignorance. 

3.                   Without complete reporting, IDEM and the public are not able to determine how well – or poorly – a city is performing.  

Indy Takes a Leadership Role on Right-to-Know:  On June 4, Mayor Bart Peterson held a press conference announcing Indianapolis’ new effort to notify the public when a combined sewer overflow is expected to occur.  When the city anticipates a rainfall of 0.25”, it sends an email notice to people who have requested such, and provides updates with a voice message for citizen’s who call in.  Through the Marion County Health Department, Indy already had an excellent program of posting signs at access points.  The program also allows the city to move ahead of pending – but long overdue – state regulations that would require similar notice. 

The program is the first of its kind in Indiana.  It is an outgrowth of the civil rights complaint filed by Concerned Clergy, Mapleton Fall Creek Neighborhood Association, Heartlands Group of the Sierra Club, Hoosier Environmental Council, and IKE in 1999.  Regular discussions between EPA, IDEM, the City, and the civil rights complainants have been extremely constructive and productive to the credit of EPA and the City. 

For three years, IKE and other environmental groups in Indiana have been pushing for a simple public notification program to give citizens the right-to-know when a CSO occurs.  EPA recommends that such notice be made in its CSO guidance documents.  Despite the pleas to protect children and families who play in the streams because they are unaware of the problem, the CSO communities have ignored the issue of public notice.  Even Senator Gard’s SEA-431 which passed in 2000 has been given little consideration since the public notification mandate does not go into effect until the state adopts regulations – regulations which were supposed to be final in September 30, 2001.  Indy is the first city to respond with more than complaints that the public is not interested or does not care or that it would cost too much to inform the public.  Special thanks to Mayor Bart Peterson!  

CSO Right-To-Know Rulemaking Being Negotiated:  On June 11, 2002, IDEM hosted a meeting to work through concerns raised by municipalities over rulemaking to require CSO communities to notify communities of potential health impacts of CSOs.  The Indiana Water Pollution Control Board preliminarily adopted the rule on April 10.  Despite its preliminarily adoption, several members of the Board had concerns with the required notice to individuals and the sign requirements.

Tom Neltner of IKE was the only concerned citizen invited.  Representatives from the cities of Marion, South Bend, Mishawaka and the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns were also invited. 

The crux of the dispute is the meaning of “community” in the statute mandating the rulemaking.  The cities maintain that it means the city or region.  IDEM maintained in its report to the Board in April that the term does not prohibit notification being made to individuals and that individual notifications are not outside the meaning of the community notification term used in the statute.  IKE agrees with IDEM that the Board clearly has the latitude to require notification of individuals who request notice.  But IKE does not feel the Board is mandated to require individual notification.  It is the Board’s option.

However, IKE disagrees with the notion that notice to a mayor is sufficient since the mayor represents the community.  IKE also disagrees that simply notifying the media is acceptable.   Smaller downstream community groups that the NPDES permit holder knows are using the stream and are likely to be hurt by the sewage overflows must be notified.  For example, the school principal, the park’s department, the operator of a canoe livery, and the operation of a public beach represent a community and must be notified.  In addition, the city must ensure that the public is notified in case the media refuse to assist.

Other issues that came up:

1.                   Difficulty of predicting an overflow.  The law requires that notice be given when there is a reasonable likelihood that CSO discharge will occur within 24 hours.  Some believed that the notice had to be provided 24 hours in advance.  IKE believes that notice anytime between 0 and 24 hours in advance would meet the requirements.

2.                   Every rain is a problem.  Several cities stand by a belief that every rain is likely to cause an overflow.  While that may be a problem in many communities, it is not true in all.  Some cities, such as Michigan City and Knox, have been working to solve the CSO problem for years.  They can handle a rainfall that is only expected to occur once in five years.  In addition, cities are obligated to make significant improvements to reduce overflows in coming years.  Cities with the “every rainfall” attitude do not seem to hold out much hope for reducing overflows in the near future – an attitude that makes the community notification even more important.

3.                   CSOs not a problem.  One city shared a view held by some but not all cities that CSOs are really not a significant health problem.  Perhaps that is why we continue to allow more sewage to be overflowing from our streams each year. 

4.                   Signs.  The proposed rule would have required many existing signs to be replaced and that many more signs be added.  The group tentatively agreed that cities could vary the language of the signs and that signs were only required at sensitive areas. 

Board member, Dave Wagner, agreed to submit proposed revisions for further comment by the group.  Bill Beranek is also working to craft a solution.  However, this rule will already be one year past the statutory deadline and, except in Indy, the public is not protected by the notice.  Hopefully, IDEM will give the issue the attention it deserves and act quickly to move the rule through the rulemaking process.

Net Increase in Sewage Overflows Policy Held-Up at IDEM:  Despite calls from the environmental community to act, IDEM continues to negotiate the language of a sewer connection policy with concerned cities.  IDEM’s tentative decision that a dry weather CSO is when one occurs more than 24 hours after the rainfall ceases is causing consternation among some cities.  The current policy is 72 hours.  Cities could rebut the presumption. 

This policy is a far cry from the Board’s Hearing Officers Report that called for a no-net increase in sewage overflows policy.  After several months of delays, IDEM seems no closer to making a decision on even the minor change described above.  The environmental community – realizing that IDEM is unwilling to even stop increases in sewage overflows – asked IDEM to present it the Water Pollution Control Board at its June meeting for debate.  We hope that IDEM will have a policy ready by the Board’s July meeting. 

Tom Neltner
Improving Kids' Environment

5244 Carrollton Ave.

Indianapolis, IN  46202-3181
317-442-3973 or 317-283-5648
Fax:  866-234-8505
www.ikecoalition.org

mccabe@ikecoalition.org