Archaic sewage lines tainting lakes, rivers

Kyndell Harkness, Star Tribune

Sewage from the 16 homes in the town of Nicolville aren’t treated before reaching Dobbins Creek.

By DAVID SHAFFER, Star Tribune

Last update: February 26, 2008 - 7:48 PM

Nearly 100 small communities in Minnesota are illegally releasing raw sewage into lakes, rivers, ditches and field drains, says a new state report.

The problem is worst in southern Minnesota, where 29 rural communities pipe their untreated toilet wastes through archaic sewage systems that lead to waterways, state officials found.

In more than 60 other places -- ranging from rural crossroad towns to lake communities -- individual homes are believed to flush wastes into pipes that flow to rivers, ditches, drain tiles or lakes, the report found.

Such problems, called straight pipes, have persisted for decades, especially in poor farming communities that can't afford a treatment plant. The report by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is an attempt to tally up the lingering problems.

"We are looking for those pockets of communities that need some help," said Barb McCarthy, a soil scientist based in Duluth and coauthor of the report, which is still in draft form and subject to revision.

The report said 1,043 communities -- all but eight with populations under 1,000 -- have wastewater issues, though not all of them are polluters. Some have poor soils or small lots that make septic systems unworkable. The report said 105 communities have fixed pollution problems since the mid-1990s.

Problem from Canada to Iowa

The pollution is happening from north to south, on the shores of Rainy Lake at the U.S-Canadian border to the village of Wilbert, population 10, near the Iowa state line. Data collected for the report indicates that 29 rivers and creeks and 23 lakes, including Lake Superior, are receiving untreated sewage from straight pipes.

In about half the 99 places with suspected straight pipes, local officials were taking steps to end the pollution, usually by seeking aid to upgrade systems, state officials said.

Although straight pipes have long been illegal, enforcement has been spotty. To change that, the Legislature in 2006 gave state regulators the power to fine these polluters without going to court first.

So far, 115 homeowners and businesses with straight pipes have been targeted under the law, though only one polluter, in Mower County, has been slapped with a $500-a-month fine for ignoring the problem, said Ron Swenson, the state official in charge of the program. He said the fine was issued this month, but he declined to identify the polluter, citing an exception to the state open-records law.

11 counties didn't cooperate

Other polluters also have escaped public scrutiny. For the statewide report, researchers had asked sewer enforcement officials in every county to identify suspected polluters, but 11 counties declined to furnish the information. In interviews, some county officials said they either didn't have the information on hand or didn't have time to collect it.

Raw sewage is a public-health threat because it spreads bacteria that can cause diarrhea, nausea and jaundice. Many of the illegal straight pipes were installed decades ago, before passage of the 1972 federal Clean Water Act, which established pollution control regulations including standards for wastewater discharges.

Yet places like Hope, Minn., a town of 113 people south of Owatonna, have struggled for years to find grants and low-interest loans to construct a sewage treatment plant. In the meantime, untreated sewage from most of the town's 50 homes has flowed into an old storm water pipe that empties into the Straight River.

Now, the community is about to solicit bids for a $1 million treatment plant funded through grants, loans and property taxes, said Mark Spurgeon, a resident and a township board member who has pushed to clean things up.

"It takes from five to 10 hours a week of my time and we are going on for four-five years on this project," he said. "There are a number of hoops you have to jump through -- the list goes on and on and on and it doesn't seem to ever end."

David Shaffer • 612-673-7090

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