The Grand Marais Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is in the process of negotiating a wastewater permit for the next five-year period that will include stricter measures of mercury allowed back into Lake Superior. This new mercury limit comes federally from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and is enforced locally by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).
At the January 18 PUC meeting, Wastewater Superintendent Tom Nelson mentioned that many states across the nation have simple variance forms for small communities but Minnesota does not.
“There is no blanket variance for us to do this quickly. We’re going to have to fight for it,” Nelson said.
“And how is that process going?” Commissioner George Wilkes asked.
“The state is listening to us,” Nelson said.
When asked about the feasibility of implementing the new mercury limit after the meeting, City Administrator Mike Roth said that these new measures can be expensive.
“Sometimes these new limits can cost cities millions of dollars to implement and then more to maintain,” Roth said. “They have to do it in a case-by-case basis and there’s not much record of how Minnesota has dealt with this before. They do take economics into consideration,” Roth added.
Roth went on to say that Grand Marais’ wastewater does not contribute to mercury in Lake Superior.
“Small communities like ours are easier to regulate than, say, a large coal power plant putting mercury in the air. So they regulate us instead,” Roth said.
When the permit is completed it will face a 30-day public comment period. Once approved, the permit will go into effect until a review period in 2019.
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