" . . . Save All Iowa
Lakes Oxbows Rivers and Streams Inc., or SAILORS, and Mississippi River Revival
had sued the EPA in federal court in Cedar Rapids. The Sierra Club also sued
and joined in the proposed agreement."
By PERRY
BEEMAN
Des Moines Register Staff Writer
Oct. 30, 2001
Iowa's dirty waterways would get
elaborate cleanup plans within a decade under a negotiated court agreement
spurred by environmental groups' lawsuits.
The pact, if approved by U.S. District Judge Michael Melloy, would give Iowa a
decade to come up with new plans, including limits for certain pollutants, to
clean up 157 lakes and river stretches on a federal list of badly polluted
waters.
If the state fails, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would have 18
months to do the job. The EPA is ultimately responsible for enforcing the
long-ignored sections of the federal Clean Water Act intended to fight runoff
pollution from farms, yards, parking lots and other areas.
The Clean Water Act requires the federal government to come up with detailed
water-quality standards limiting each runoff pollutant that has severely fouled
a particular waterway. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources handles much of
the federal water-quality work in Iowa under contract with the federal
government.
"We look at it as a first step to get the water bodies affected cleaned
up," said Larry McLellan, a lawyer for two of the environmental groups
that sued to force action in 1998. "Obviously, we realize it will take the
state some time to do that."
The pact would put the state and federal governments on a court-ordered
schedule, McLellan said. That would force them to address the pollution that
has left Iowa with significant water-quality problems.
Silt, farm chemicals and livestock manure running across the ground are among
the top pollutants in Iowa. At times, the state has faced fish kills and beach
closures. In some areas, including Des Moines, utilities have spent extra money
on equipment to lower nitrate levels in tap water.
No one knows how much developing the plans will cost. Iowa already has
developed four and will do another dozen waterways by the year's end, McLellan
said.
The remaining plans will be a challenge in a state battling budget problems.
McLellan represents Save All Iowa Lakes Oxbows Rivers and Streams Inc., or
SAILORS, and Mississippi River Revival. Both sued the EPA in federal court in
Cedar Rapids. The Sierra Club also sued and joined in the proposed agreement.
State water-quality workers were unavailable for comment.