State Pollution Board: Clean Up the Damn River!

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jun 3, 2011 4:00PM

Looking south along Bubbly Creek. (Chuck Sudo/Chicagoist)

Looks as thought the state pollution control board is taking steps to ensure the Metropolitan Water reclamation District can't wiggle out on cleaning up the Chicago River. Yesterday, the POllution Control Board took the first steps toward designating stretches of the Chicago River, Cal-Sag Channel and Little Calumet River safe for “primary contact,” legalese for making the waterways safe for kayaking, boating, wading and swimming.

The moves by MWRD and the Pollution Control Board ended a week in which the issue of the river's pollution levels was addressed by the Chicago City Council with a hearing and proposed resolution for the river cleanup, as well as a separate hearing held by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin in which he expressed his hope that disinfection would move forward.

Friends of the Chicago River Executive Director Margaret Frisbie said in a statement released to media that this change is a long time coming. “With disinfection in place we can focus our energy instead on the more complicated issue of combined sewer overflows and finalizing in a strong stormwater management ordinance that utilizes green infrastructure, with all their ancillary benefits, for all of Cook County.” National Resource Defense Council attorney Ann Alexander concurred. “June 16 is shaping up to be a historic day in the unique history of the Chicago River, when we stop arguing and start rolling up our sleeves to give Chicago the waterway it deserves---an amenity, not an embarrassment.”