MWRD: Fine, We'll Clean the Damn River

By Prescott Carlson in News on Jun 2, 2011 5:00PM

In May, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave Chicago a stern warning that it had better get its act together and do something pronto to clean up the putrid filth in the Chicago River, which has not been safe to swim in since before Upton SInclair first gave up eating meat. Both the city and the State of Illinois were ordered by the EPA to immediately begin upgrading measures to make the Chicago and Calumet rivers a bit cleaner than the Yangtze.

Everyone from Mayor Emanuel and U.S. Senator Dick Durbin on down seemed on board with the idea of cleaner rivers except for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District which balked at its estimated $1 billion price tag for the project, and MWRD Board President Terrence O'Brien called the cleanup a "waste of money," saying, "In these difficult economic times when public agencies are facing budgetary shortfalls, people are losing their jobs and homes... it is important... that public funds are spent wisely."

Now it appears the MWRD has changed its priorities and thinks perhaps clean water is important, after all. According to the Chicago Tribune, the district's board is prepared to vote to drop its challenges against higher water quality standards -- an effort that it had previously spent $13 million trying to smack down. Commissioner Cynthia Santos has flipped on her previous stance, and now says she looks "forward to working with all the powers-that-be to come up with a plan to clean up the river and a way to fund it." Commissioner Barbara McGowan also said she recently decided to support the river cleanup after a closed-door debate.

O'Brien, however, is not backing down, and was quoted as saying, "We have to be fiscally responsible for our constituents. This is an unfunded federal mandate."

The EPA estimates the cost of the cleanup would add an average of $40 a year to residents' household water and sewer bills.