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Springfield ^Co,lunbus /
U.S. Environment?! Protection
Region 5. Library (PL-12J)
77 West Jackson Boulevard, 12th Ftoor
Chicago.lt 60604-3590
The Federal Government's water pollution control program is carried on by the Depart-
ment of Health, Education, and Welfare under authority of the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act, (33 U.S.C. 466 et. seq.). The program is administered in the Midwest by the
Department's Region V office, which is located in Chicago, Illinois. This office serves the
States of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
The Federal water pollution control program is a cooperative one, involving the closest
coordination with interstate, state and local agencies. It provides both technical and financial
assistance to states and local agencies, develops comprehensive water quality management
programs, supports basic and operational research and employs enforcement measures in
situations where these are needed. A major activity of the Region V office at the present time
is the administration of grants for water pollution abatement.
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I
•i
tin
(Protecting
WATER QUALITY
in the Midwest
A Report on Water Pollution Control Activities in Region V, Division
of Water Supply and Pollution Control, Public Health Service
f:. >>
?Ui5» -PN* *» ~
June 1963
U. S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE
Public Health Service
Region V
433 West VanBuren Street, Chicago 7, Illinois
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WATER RESOURCES IN REGION V
The States of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin encompass one of the richest water
areas in the world. On its borders are the greatest source of fresh water anywhere, the Great Lakes, plus
the Ohio River and the upper Mississippi River.
Even though these five states possess these enormous fresh water resources, the Midwest is not
immune to the threat of a water shortage. If this comes, it will not be a shortage of water itself, but
of clean water.
NEED FOR A CLEAN WATER PROGRAM
The public has been prone to assume that water,
the natural resource most taken for granted, will be
available for use forever. This assumption is subject to
serious question when one considers that today water
has become the Nation's Number One natural resource
concern. Pollution, resulting from the ever-expanding
economy and population, demands the development of
an effective program for water quality management.
The danger signs in the Midwest are already evident —
The entire flow of a major river is used and re-
used almost four times before a large metropoli-
tan center takes its share for water supply.
Hundreds of miles of another boundary water
have had serious taste and odor problems which
have tainted fish flesh and affected municipal
water supplies.
Diversion of lake water is the subject of major
litigation among the various Lake States.
In the five states of Region V, $140 million is the
indicated need to build municipal waste treatment
plants.
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CONTROLLING POLLUTION BY
BUILDING TREATMENT PLANTS
The building of municipal and industrial waste treat-
ment works is one of the most important elements in
the effective control of water quality. Congress, in pass-
ing the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, recognized
this fact by providing for Federal grants to assist muni-
cipalities in financing the construction of local sewage
treatment work. This act provides individual grants up to
309? of eligible project costs with a maximum grant of
$600.000 for any single project. (The recently passed
Accelerated Public Works Act provides grants up to
50% of eligible costs for projects in economically de-
pressed areas.)
Fiscal Year 1963 in Region V was the most active
year since the sewage treatment works construction pro-
gram was started in 1956. Grant offers, contract awards,
sewage treatment plants placed in operation, and miles
of stream improvement all reached record high levels.
A summary of all grants made during the Fiscal Year
1963 up to April 4. 1963 is given in the following table.
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GRAISTS TO MUNICIPALITIES DURING FISCAL YEAR 1963
FOR SEWAGE TREATMENT WORKS IN REGION V
STATES
PROJECTS
ELIGIBLE PROJECT
COSTS
FEDERAL GRANT
OFFER
ILLINOIS
INDIANA
MICHIGAN
OHIO
WISCONSIN
REGION V TOTALS
60
22
24
27
39
172
$14,255,110.09
11,338,620.18
24,058,669.82
15,138.782.66
5,922,815.11
$70,713,997.86
$ 4,759,602.28
2,380,929.65
9,124,534.63
3,817,343.80
1,695.301.83
$21,777,712.19
Accelerated Public Works supplemental funds appro-
priated by Congress for Fiscal Year 1963, added to the
original appropriations, probably will result in an esti-
mated total of 285 grants tendered. These grants will
generate almost $96 million in eligible project construc-
tion costs.
During the fiscal year, there have been an average of
300 active projects; 200 field payment inspections; 85
sewage plants placed in operation; and over 1200 miles
of stream improvement. The growth of the program in
terms of funds and sewage treatment works projects is
illustrated in the following graph.
SEWAGE TREATMENT WORKS CONSTRUCTION GRANTS PROGRAM IN REGION V
FROM 1956-1963 SHOWING FISCAL YEAR APPROPRIATIONS
AND NUMBER OF PROJECTS
1963
1962
Average
for 5 years
(1956-1961)
$31,000,000 Est.
285 Projects Est.
Reflects increase
under Public Works
Acceleration Act
of 1962
$10,980,000 )
98 Projects )
$6,820.000
Reflects 1961 amendment to Act
,r , i w f D „ t- p t i
federal Water Pollution Control
80 Projects ( Act of 1956
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BASIC DATA —
STUDIES — PLANS
The best approach to any major problem is to learn
as much as possible about the subject. Basic data collec-
tion is the fundamental operation for any water pollution
control program. Studies provide specific information
for a wide variety of needs in enforcement or planning
comprehensive water quality programs. Such programs
serve as flexible tools to make the maximum use of our
water resources.
Basic data programs in Region V include not only
inventories of water supplies and municipal and indus-
trial \vaste treatment facilities in each State, but also
water quality data on a continuing basis from 17 stra-
tegically located sampling stations in Region V. These
stations are part of the National Water Quality Network,
which provides long-term quality trends for the Nation's
major watersheds.
Basic information on the effects of recreational uses
on the water quality of an impounded water supply is
the subject of special studies on reservoirs near Indi-
anapolis and Bloomington, Indiana.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
International treaty obligations on boundary waters
are exercised through the International Joint Commis-
sion. The Public Health Service mans a field unit located
at Detroit, Michigan, which is engaged in sampling and
monitoring the international boundary waters in this
area. Reports are made twice yearly to the Commission's
Technical Advisory Board on Control of Pollution of
Boundary Waters.
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1**
In the winter of 1962-1963. the e\es of the Nation
were focused on the upper Mississippi River where major
soybean and petroleum oil spills fouled over 130 miles
of stream, killing or disabling thousands of ducks. The
Governors of the States of Minnesota and Wisconsin
requested and received assistance from the Department
and a technical team surveyed the stretch and made
recommendations for immediate and long-term corrective
measures.
INDUSTRIAL WASTES
A major pollution study now underway is the Detroit
River-Lake Erie Project which was established last year
as the result of a joint Federal-State Enforcement Con-
ference on pollution of the navigable waters of the
Detroit River, Lake Erie and their tributaries within the
State of Michigan.
As a measure of activity, some 12,000 samples of all
types have been collected and over 50,000 analyses have
been made since the Project's inception last summer. The
information gathered will be used to determine the
extent of pollution, identify principal sources of pollu-
tion, determine the effect of this pollution on water uses,
and to develop a program for improving water quality.
DETROIT RIVER-
LAKE ERIE PROJECT
H8S
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GREAT LAKES-ILLINOIS RIVER BASINS PROJECT
Perhaps the most significant and widely known water
pollution abatement study undertaken by the Public
Health Service is the Great Lakes and Illinois River
Basins Project. This is a 7-year $13 million compre-
hensive water quality management program specifically
authorized by the Federal Water Pollution Control Act
for those watersheds.
Work on the Illinois River Basin is esentially com-
plete. A total of over 12,000 samples have been collected
at the 65 stations on this watershed and over 90,000
analyses have been made. Very specialized and sophis-
ticated techniques and equipment have been used, such
as continuous dissolved oxygen recorders, carbon filters
to gather organic materials, and intensive industrial
waste sampling programs. Additionally, many special
studies have been made and others are in progress now.
These studies include a plankton algae study and enter -
ovirus studies.
This activity has produced a great mass of data which
is analyzed through the use of digital computers. The
results are now being evaluated by the various scientific
specialists on the Project staff.
The work done thus far on the Illinois River Basin
has formed a base line for a major study of Lake Michi-
gan which is now underway. During the past year,
almost 15,000 samples from 474 stations in the Lake
were collected. Some 400,000 analyses were made on
these samples by the end of Fiscal Year 1963.
To study the Lake, a navy of ten large specially-
equipped boats were used. Four of these boats, in ad-
dition to collecting water and bottom samples, were
used to set out and service meters, which are measuring
the currents in the Lake in order to determine waste
dispersion patterns. To date, 12 stations involving 40
current meters have been placed. Several meters have
been retrieved and data has been obtained from the
memory systems in the individual meter capsules.
Water quality management reports are being prepared
for each basin, and in addition, a series of special re-
ports have already been published and submitted to the
Justice Department for use in the Supreme Court Hear-
ings on Lake Michigan Diversion at Chicago.
Although major emphasis is currently on Lake Michi-
gan, the development of a water quality management
program for Lake Erie is already underway. A field
office and laboratory has been established at Cleveland,
Ohio and sampling was begun on the Lake this spring.
The other Great Lakes will each in turn be programmed.
The present plan is to proceed from Lake Erie to Lake
Ontario to Lake Huron, and finally to Lake Superior.
Mm
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APPLIED RESEARCH FOR WATER POLLUTION CONTROL
The Regional Program is making significant applied
research contributions. Enterovirus studies on the Illinois
River, pesticides studies in Michigan, and field testing
of such sophisticated bacteriological indicators of pollu-
tion as fecal streptococcus and fecal coliforms are a few
examples of activities now being carried on. This is in
addition to the basic research program in water pollution
control underway at the Public Health Service's Robert
A. Taft Sanitary Engineering Center in Cincinnati and
on contract with various universities, colleges, and re-
search establishments throughout the country.
A further indication of the importance of scientific
studies in this Region was emphasized with the announce-
ment in January by the Secretary of Health, Education
and Welfare that Ann Arbor, Michigan had been selected
as the site of a Regional Water Quality Laboratory.
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ENFORCING POLLUTION CONTROL
Although man\ pollution situations can he lesolved
through informal means, in certain instances a formal
enforcement action is the only recourse. Enforcement
activity in Region V involves such major metropolitan
areas as Detroit and St. Louis with water resources for a
total of almost 6 million people being directly affected.
Some 20 actions have been taken throughout the
country under the provisions of Section 8 of the Federal
Water Pollution Control Act, as amended. Both in-
terstate and navigable waters are included within the
definition of this article. In addition, Section 9 of the
Act includes specific reference to the Secretary's respon-
sibility to cite Federal Agencies, having jurisdiction over
installations causing pollution, in any summary of a con-
ference pursuant to interstate or navigable stream action.
To date, three enforcement actions—all in the con-
ference stage—have been called in this Region. Progress
in pollution abatement has been significant where these
actions have been taken.
• The Mississippi I!i\cr and the St. Louis metropolitan
ana in Mi^ouii and Illinois.
• The Mississippi River and the Clinton. Iowa and
Quad Cities area in Iowa and Illinois.
• The Detroit River-—Western Lake Erie and the
Detroit metropolitan area in Michigan.
In both Mississippi River actions, progress may be
measured in the millions of dollars earmarked for treat-
ment plant construction—$95 million in St. Louis—$6
million in Clinton. Iowa. While the Detroit River-Lake
Erie action is under intensive study, it is becoming ap-
parent that the combined efforts of the various agencies
involved are producing results with significant improve-
ment noted' in water quality for critical areas.
Of 2200 Federal installations located in the Region,
211 discharge treated or untreated wastes into the surface
streams. An evaluation program is underway for all such
installations.
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THE CITIZENS ROLE
During the past year, there has been much evidence of
a growing public concern in the Mid-West with problems
of water quality. Civic, women's, and conservation groups
in many communities have shown their determination to
stand behind local and state water pollution control pro-
grams and to support them.
An outstanding example of citizen interest was a TV
documentary. "The Majestic Sea," a production of the
local CBS outlet in Chicago. This 30-minute film high-
lighted the water problems in the Chicago area. It
utilized to a significant degree on-camera comments by
Public Health Service representatives. A similar docu-
mentary for the Detroit Metropolitan Area is presently
being developed by the local CBS-TV outlet in Detroit
and is expected to report in depth on the activities of
the Detroit River-Lake Erie Project.
In like fashion, several articles have appeared on the
national scene one of them was in the Saturday Evening
Post which published, "The Great Chicago Water Steal."
A widely reprinted article. "Aerial Photos—New Weapon
Against Pollution" appeared in Chemical Engineering.
In each, the activities of the Regional program were re-
viewed at length.
(Newspapers have also given much coverage to various
aspects of water pollution abatement, particularly the
Great Lakes and Illinois River Basins Project. A note-
worthy example was an article by Russell Lynch of the
Milwaukee Journal which was reprinted and has re-
ceived wide distribution.
Personal contacts are made through presentation of
prepared talks and films by various staff members to a
great variety of organizations interested in the cause of
clean water. These presentations have been made to na-
tional conventions such as the American Society of Civil
Engineers and the National Conference of Plant Mainte-
nance Engineers and to State, Regional and local meetings
of such groups as the Illinois Public Health Association,
and the Izaak Walton League of America. Regional staff
personnel have participated in sewage treatment works
dedications and appeared before local service groups
like Lions and Kiuanis Clubs to encourage the citizens
interest in clean water.
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Over 36,000,000 persons live in the five midwestern States of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio,
Michigan, and Wisconsin. However, in 1962 it took 11-year old Lisa Funsten of Wilmington,
Illinois to make the most persuasive, most telling appeal for water pollution abatement and for
the protection of Mid-Western waters.
In a letter written to President Kennedy, which was widely reprinted by news services,
young Miss Funsten wrote about the Kankakee River:
"I would like to tell you about our river. We live on it and it's a
nice river, but it's pretty dirty. Nobody respects it. They throw their
garbage in the river and everything. I would like to know if you would
talk to somebody to clean it."
Miss Funsten's letter received a quick reply from H. W. Poston, Regional Program Direc-
tor of the Public Health Service's water pollution control program. "The Federal govern-
ment and the State of Illinois," Mr. Poston wrote, "shares Lisa's interest in the Kankakee and
in clean water. The Kankakee is included in one of the principal water quality studies. The
results of this study will assist the State of Illinois in developing the best possible program for
users of the Kankakee River. Your State has taken an active interest in the quality of the Kan-
kakee River and is taking steps to enforce the clean-up of the river."
GPO 802-432-2
y S. Environmental Protection Ager.c*
Region 5, Library (PL-12J)
77 West Jackson Boulevard, IZtn
IL 60604-3590
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POLLUTION FOR MSD u M** -^
i Progress,' Federal Of-
DEATH OF FISH) <-< ^ - >-T<-
ties for Delay Are
Pioneer Press
Washington Bureau \
WASHINGTON-A federal
inspection team will begin
work on the upper Mississippi
river today investigating the
which has killed
museums ui ducks.
The team—composed of a
health service sci<>-
Health Service Says
7 Million Killed
Washington, May 27 (UPD —
More than 7 million fish were
killed last year by factory and
city wastes and agricultural
poisons dumped into the na-
tion's rivers and lakes, the pub-
lic health service reported to-
day.
Based on reports from 36
states and the district of Co-
lumbia, the service said about
one-fourth of those killed were
game fish, two-thirds were for-
age fish, and one-tenth were
trash fish.
Most of the 7,118,000 fish
were poisoned in rivers, the
service said. It blamed domes-
tic sewage for the greatest
number of deaths. The service
said 53 per cent of the con-
tamination in lakes and rivers
came from factories, 45 per
cent from local communities.
Chief Cause in 1961 _^"
Agricultural po
a chemical " '
into a
Cited.
The Metropolitan S^
tnct is making satisfac]
gress in its Mississippi!
lution abatement pro"1
the Federal govn,,
watch the project clos
sure its completion If
Public Health Servi'.\V\e^>
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