EPA approves Oklahoma limit

Arkansan: A 'beginning' on rivers

BY ROBERT J. SMITH ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE 12/31/03

An Arkansas official described federal approval of Oklahoma's new phosphorus limit on Tuesday as the beginning of work to reduce river pollution.

The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday approved Oklahoma's phosphorus limit on six scenic rivers that flow in the eastern part of the state. Four of the streams start in Arkansas, including the Illinois River, which drains much of Benton and Washington counties.

"This is part of the beginning," said Marcus Devine, director of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality. "It's early. It's an early part of the process for me, and the EPA's approval is a blessing of the things we intend to do on this side of the border."

In November 2002, Oklahoma submitted its water quality standards and phosphorus limit to the regional EPA office in Dallas. After the EPA received Oklahoma's planned standards, the two states continued to bicker and negotiate over whether Oklahoma's limit of 0.037 milligrams of phosphorus per liter of water is attainable.

Arkansas officials maintain that 0.037 isn't attainable, especially given the agricultural, industrial and population growth in the Illinois River watershed. A more reasonable level, they say, is 0.1 milligrams per liter. Oklahomans have long said the lower number can be accomplished.

Duane Smith, director of the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, said a letter from the EPA confirms that the agency thinks 0.037 can be met.

"They reviewed the science and say it's a defensible number to protect the stream," Smith said.

Sharon Parrish, chief of the watershed management section of the EPA's regional office, said 0.037 can be accomplished.

"What's going to be the proof in the pudding there is the in-stream monitoring that both states are going to conduct," Parrish said. "It's always possible that the state will determine over time that it's not the correct criteria for a water body."

Phosphorus is a nutrient found in such things as sewer treatment plant discharges and poultry litter.

Farmers spread litter on fields to help crops grow. Cities take steps to remove some phosphorus from their sewer plant discharges into river by keeping it in their sludge, the semi-solid material that's produced at sewer plants.

Rain often loosens phosphorus from soil and carries it into streams where at high levels it can create green slimy water, cause algae to grow and deplete oxygen. It threatens aquatic life.

"Today's approval of the water quality standard, in combination with the statement of joint principles signed by the states, puts Oklahoma and Arkansas on a positive path toward higher water quality in the shared watersheds,'' said EPA Regional Administrator Richard E. Greene.

A statement of joint principles, signed on Dec. 17 by Oklahoma and Arkansas, will begin the process of improving water quality. It gives 10 years to meet the 0.037 limit.

The time will be critical to working toward Oklahoma's goal, said Otis Cluck, an Arkansas man who raises turkeys in five houses north of Summers in Washington County.

"It'll be a different ball game from here on," Cluck said. "Farmers understand what we are going to have to do.

"The water is going to improve. The management of the litter is going to improve. I believe that. I had more faith when they gave us 10 years to do it."

The agreement between the states calls for the establishment of a so-called litter bank. The bank will help coordinate the movement of litter from farms where phosphorus levels in soil are high to places where it can be used outside the scenic river watersheds.

The two states also are designing a phosphorus index. That index will help determine where poultry litter can be spread on fields.

Under the agreement, Northwest Arkansas cities must make sure their sewer plants discharge 1 milligram or less of phosphorus per liter into streams. Rogers must comply by next year, Springdale by 2007, Siloam Springs by 2009 and Bentonville when it begins discharging sewage into the Illinois River watershed.

Fayetteville already meets the limit. Rogers for the 12-month period that ended Nov. 30 averaged 0.37 milligrams per liter, and Springdale has averaged 0.6 over the past two months.