Blog Archives

MWRD and Friends of the Chicago River Partner to Create "Overflow Action Days"

3/19/2017

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Board Meeting - March 16, 2017

The meeting began with a packed house, standing room only, and a party atmosphere complete with refreshments, due to the fact that no less than 6 people and groups were being honored and brought large contingencies of supporters with them. Honorees included retiring ABC Reporter Charles Thomas and individuals/groups working on clean water initiatives. Excitement was definitely in the air.

Highlights from the Meeting:

Friends of the Chicago River was honored for their new working relationship with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MRWD). Out of this relationship has come a new concept called “Overflow Action Days”. Cook County sewers fall into the “combined” sewer type. This means that both rainwater runoff and sewage flow into the same system. When rainfall is fast and furious this combined system has to overflow the excess water into Lake Michigan untreated. The Deep Tunnel project has been able to handle a good amount, but not all, of this overflow. The rest is up to the citizens of Cook County. Much like Ozone Action Days, Overflow Action Days will alert the citizens to be extra vigilant in their conservation of water.They will be alerted to take shorter showers, flush a little less, put off that laundry for a day or two, etc.
India with its 1.2 billion people suffers from dirty water and water borne diseases. Engineers from that nation reached a Memorandum of Understanding with the Commissioners of MWRD and were honored for this work. They came to Chicago to work with our engineers in water treatment. They said that “MWRD is the best in the world at solving water pollution problems and have the history to prove it.” This same group came to learn about how Brookfield Zoo handles its animal waste because they have a reputation for being excellent in this area.

After the first recess, the Committee of the Whole came back to tackle some issues from the Finance Committee. These issues had to do with consulting firm costs and awards for good budgeting. This part took a good deal of time.( I do not think the issue of committees versus the whole board has been resolved. I was confused by the recesses and reconvening of what seemed to be the same group of people each time.)

The Water Treatment Plant at Stickny,Illinois is the largest water treatment plant in the world. It is currently recovering the most phosphorus also. The process is economical, successful, and reliable, according to Director St. Pierre. Comm. Avila questioned the making of fertilizer pellets from the recovery of this material. Companies are currently bidding for these pellets. Comm. Durkin had questions about the management of the plant. Comm. Shore had questions about the PH build up in the pumps. The director answered all of the questions with optimism and said that all of their issues would be resolved soon. He expects this plant to collect 10,000 tons of phosphorus each year. This recovery will keep all of our waterways cleaner.
Bucket Day: - The MWRD sells compost to the public and to landscaping companies. About 50,000 tons of compost are for sale most years. Bucket Day will be sometime in May when the public can go to certain locations to buy this compost. Comm. Shore asked about sales tax. (Legal will look into that). Comm. Morita and Comm. Steele asked to have copies of the ads placed to alert the public about the date and locations. The Director stated that he wanted a different name for this event. He was not crazy about the name “Bucket Day”.

Yet another recess and reconvening was called at this point. Again the same group of people seemed to be coming back. This time it was called the “Board of Commissioners” meeting.

Length of Meeting - The meeting was over 2 hours and counting when the observer had to leave due to another appointment.

Observer - Jan Goldberg

0 Comments

Nutrient Trading Discussed at MWRD Study Session

3/7/2017

0 Comments

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Special Study Session – February 23, 2017

Three Items were on the Agenda for Discussion – Presentation by David St. Pierre, Executive Director

Background and rationale for purchase of farm land and Nutrient Trading.
Extension of Survivor Pension Benefits for MWRD retired employees that married after it became legal for LGBT community to marry.
Presentation on proposed investment vehicle to maximize income from leased MWRD properties.

Purchase of Farm Land/Nutrient Trading

By 2025 the national and Illinois EPA(s) require a 25% reduction in Phosphorus [fresh water] and a 15% reduction in Nitrogen [salt water] effluent in the waters leading to the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico.
Most of the phosphorus comes from point sources such as the MWRD [83%].
A huge reduction has already been achieved, but to get to the last percentage needed to reach the target goal of .1 discharge requires as much as $211 million additional expenditure per year by the MWRD without the guarantee that .1 can be reached.
Currently the discharge acceptable by the EPA is 1.0 with a targeted reduction to .072 by the end of 2018.
Since 17% of the runoff comes from agriculture which is not regulated, and MWRD's Ex.Dir, St. Pierre, does not expect it to be regulated in the foreseeable future, a pilot program is being undertaken to see if by purchasing agriculture land and eliminating the use of phosphorus on the land, enough reduction can occur to get to the required target.
Another discussed approach is called Nutrient Trading. If the regulations and parameters can be worked out, this could be the most affordable way of getting to the target. Farmers would be encouraged to use Best Practices to reduce runoff and could sell Nutrient Trades to utilities such as the MWRD. St. Pierre estimates the cost could be $20 million per year which is a 10 times reduction.
Mr. St. Pierre posits that this plan needs to be adopted state wide for it to be effective and several entities including the state's Pollution Control Board support nutrient trading including "downstream" trading.

Survivor Pension Benefits Extension

Several board members want the extension to happen yet this year.
St. Pierre would like the opportunity to research the number and ramifications involved, if any, and implement in 2018.
One problem is that the MWRD currently does not know how many retired employees entered into a marriage after 2011 when gay marriage became legal. Stay tuned as this likely will come up in future board meetings.

Proposed Investment Vehicle to maximize income from Leased MWRD Properties

Mr. St. Pierre said he was not prepared to make a presentation on this proposal for this study session. Further analysis is necessary by the legal teams to ensure that this type of investment is possible for a public body.

Post Meeting on-line Observation by Diane Edmundson

0 Comments

Farming Project at Hanover Park Water Reclamation Plant Approved

3/6/2017

0 Comments

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Board Meeting - March 2, 2017

Major Items Discussed

The Board authorized a contract for farming at the Hanover Park Water Reclamation Plant. The purpose of this contract is to procure farming operations. They are planning to do sub-surface injection of bio solids for the fields at the Hanover Park Water Reclamation Plant. They will grow corn on the land and by using the bio solids they will be able to observe if this is an economic way to deal with this material. This will be for a three-year period. This project will not interfere with the 8 acres of a plant nursery. Commissioner Avila wants to make sure the commissioners receive a report on the progress of this contact. (Item #8, 17-0229)
Recommendations for the State of Illinois 2017 Legislative Program - Reference is made to Legislative initiative #2-Authorization to amend the Resource Recovery Section of the District’s Act to provide the District with the authority to invest in agricultural land outside of its service area for purposes of meeting more stringent nutrient criteria limits at its water reclamation plants. This Legislative initiative was proposed at the February 23, 2017 Study Session Committee on State legislation and Rules. Commissioner McGowan wanted to make sure as they are studying this initiative that they get the proper language in this report so that this initiative is clear and everyone understands this. (item #26, 17-0252)
Executive Director David St. Pierre announced that the MWRD has two licensed drone operators. They expect to use the drones to survey streams, looking for storm damage and other issues.

Observer - Nancy Marcus Length of Meeting - 45 minutes

0 Comments

MWRD and Friends of the Chicago River Partner to Create "Overflow Action Days"

Nutrient Trading Discussed at MWRD Study Session

Farming Project at Hanover Park Water Reclamation Plant Approved

Author

Archives

Categories