MRC Group Forces Permit Revision
08.21.2018 | News | No Comments
One of the Mississippi River Collaborative’s fundamental objectives is the oversight of state regulation of the Clean Water Act. All too often, permits to discharge pollutants into beautiful lakes and rivers are approved by regulatory agencies without meeting water quality standards. It then falls to environmental groups to step up on behalf of residents to issue comments and appeals challenging faulty permits.
The Iowa Environmental Council (a member of the Mississippi River Collaborative) recently emerged victorious from a petition filed with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), the issuer of such discharge permits. In May 2017, IDNR issued a stormwater discharge permit for Yeader Creek that – quite simply – violated both federal and state regulations. It actually weakened protections for a waterbody that has been listed as “impaired” by IDNR for over 20 years.
IEC took action and filed a petition in May 2018 against IDNR to revise the permit. On August 1, 2018, a revised permit was issued by IDNR.
“It is unfortunate that to have our comments taken seriously and to ensure Yeader Creek was properly protected, we had to challenge this faulty permit via the courts,” says Jennifer Terry, Executive Director of the Iowa Environmental Council.
While legal action is a last resort, it is sometimes the only way to get the attention of officials that fail to address even the most basic water quality regulations. Click to read the IEC Yeader Creek Press Release.
