By Michael Hawthorne
Making the Chicago River safe enough for swimming would waste taxpayer money and increase the risk of people drowning, officials who oversee the waterway said today.
Responding to an order from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to clean up high levels of disease-causing bacteria in the river, the president of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s elected board said the urban waterway has been altered so dramatically that new efforts to improve water quality would not be worth the costs.
The district is an independent, taxpayer-funded agency that operates sewage treatment plants for Chicago and the Cook County suburbs. It pumps partially treated sewage into the waterways, which were reversed away from Lake Michigan more than a century ago to separate the city’s waste from its source of drinking water.
“In these difficult economic times when public agencies are facing budgetary shortfalls, people are losing their jobs and homes … it is important … that public funds are spent wisely,” Terrence O’Brien, the board’s longtime president, said at a news conference.
In a letter first reported Thursday by the Tribune, the EPA said the district had failed to prove during three years of hearings that cleaning up the river “would result in substantial and widespread social and economic impact.” Based on an analysis of district budget data, the EPA estimates that improving the waterways could increase sewer rates by up to about $40 a year for the owner of a home valued at $267,000, the Cook County median.
Federal officials ordered the Illinois EPA to impose more stringent standards for bacteria and other pollutants to ensure that stretches of the Chicago River, Cal-Sag Channel and Little Calumet River are safe for recreation. To comply, the Water Reclamation District would need to install germ-killing equipment to cut the amount of bacteria in wastewater that flows from treatment plants into the waterways.
Chicago is the only major U.S. city that fails to disinfect its sewage. The sharp contrast between the Chicago River and most other waterways can be summed up in part by tests for fecal coliform, a microscopic bacterium that indicates the presence of human waste and is measured in colony forming units, or CFUs.
Disinfected sewage that suburban Elgin pumps into the Fox River on average contains about 23 CFUs per 100 milliliters of water, well below state standards for swimmable waterways. Levels at the North Side Treatment Plant at Howard Street and McCormick Boulevard average more than 12,000 CFUs, with spikes as high as 170,000.
Other members of the district’s board, including Commissioners Debra Shore and Michael Alvarez, were elected in part after campaigns that focused on their strong support for cleaning up the river. Both were absent from the news conference called by O’Brien, who during the past six years has led a $13 million effort to fight tougher water quality standards.
Scientists and lawyers hired by the district all come to the same conclusion: The river might be full of nasty bacteria and viruses from human and industrial waste, but cleaning it up just isn’t worth the expense.
“The waterways are really a dangerous place for recreation, especially swimming,” said Thomas Granato, the district’s interim director of monitoring and research, citing steep walls and barge traffic on some stretches. “It’s not like a beach where you can stand up and walk out of the water if you’re tired or get a cramp.”
In the U.S. EPA’s letter, the agency noted that the city of Chicago and Chicago Park District have spent more than $100 million to improve public access to the waterways. Mayor Richard Daley’s Chicago River Agenda supported cleaning up the river, and Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel says he backs the EPA’s push to improve water quality.
“The Chicago and Calumet rivers are incredibly valuable resources to area residents and visitors, and clean water is vital to people’s health and the local economy,” said Nancy Stoner, the EPA’s acting assistant administrator for water. “Restoring and protecting urban waterways is a priority for EPA because it revitalizes communities, boosts local businesses and creates jobs and a healthier environment for people.”
Making the Chicago River safe enough for swimming would waste taxpayer money and increase the risk of people drowning, officials who oversee the waterway said today.
Responding to an order from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to clean up high levels of disease-causing bacteria in the river, the president of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s elected board said the urban waterway has been altered so dramatically that new efforts to improve water quality would not be worth the costs.
The district is an independent, taxpayer-funded agency that operates sewage treatment plants for Chicago and the Cook County suburbs. It pumps partially treated sewage into the waterways, which were reversed away from Lake Michigan more than a century ago to separate the city’s waste from its source of drinking water.
“In these difficult economic times when public agencies are facing budgetary shortfalls, people are losing their jobs and homes … it is important … that public funds are spent wisely,” Terrence O’Brien, the board’s longtime president, said at a news conference.
In a letter first reported Thursday by the Tribune, the EPA said the district had failed to prove during three years of hearings that cleaning up the river “would result in substantial and widespread social and economic impact.” Based on an analysis of district budget data, the EPA estimates that improving the waterways could increase sewer rates by up to about $40 a year for the owner of a home valued at $267,000, the Cook County median.
Federal officials ordered the Illinois EPA to impose more stringent standards for bacteria and other pollutants to ensure that stretches of the Chicago River, Cal-Sag Channel and Little Calumet River are safe for recreation. To comply, the Water Reclamation District would need to install germ-killing equipment to cut the amount of bacteria in wastewater that flows from treatment plants into the waterways.
Chicago is the only major U.S. city that fails to disinfect its sewage. The sharp contrast between the Chicago River and most other waterways can be summed up in part by tests for fecal coliform, a microscopic bacterium that indicates the presence of human waste and is measured in colony forming units, or CFUs.
Disinfected sewage that suburban Elgin pumps into the Fox River on average contains about 23 CFUs per 100 milliliters of water, well below state standards for swimmable waterways. Levels at the North Side Treatment Plant at Howard Street and McCormick Boulevard average more than 12,000 CFUs, with spikes as high as 170,000.
Other members of the district’s board, including Commissioners Debra Shore and Michael Alvarez, were elected in part after campaigns that focused on their strong support for cleaning up the river. Both were absent from the news conference called by O’Brien, who during the past six years has led a $13 million effort to fight tougher water quality standards.
Scientists and lawyers hired by the district all come to the same conclusion: The river might be full of nasty bacteria and viruses from human and industrial waste, but cleaning it up just isn’t worth the expense.
“The waterways are really a dangerous place for recreation, especially swimming,” said Thomas Granato, the district’s interim director of monitoring and research, citing steep walls and barge traffic on some stretches. “It’s not like a beach where you can stand up and walk out of the water if you’re tired or get a cramp.”
In the U.S. EPA’s letter, the agency noted that the city of Chicago and Chicago Park District have spent more than $100 million to improve public access to the waterways. Mayor Richard Daley’s Chicago River Agenda supported cleaning up the river, and Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel says he backs the EPA’s push to improve water quality.
“The Chicago and Calumet rivers are incredibly valuable resources to area residents and visitors, and clean water is vital to people’s health and the local economy,” said Nancy Stoner, the EPA’s acting assistant administrator for water. “Restoring and protecting urban waterways is a priority for EPA because it revitalizes communities, boosts local businesses and creates jobs and a healthier environment for people.”
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