Sludge Watch ==> Most of the water in the Chigaco River is loaded with sewage bacteria

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

This is pathetic.  A river filthy with sewage and bacteria, and these guys 
stall the cleanup while they claim to want to study human health impacts.    
You are hearing the voice of the wastewater industry.

First - the river needs to get clean, not have an analysis of how many 
people its making sick.

AND - the river needs to run clean for the sake of life itself..and all its 
creatures.

.............................................



CHICAGO: River's link to illness studied
14.sep.07
Chicago Tribune
Michael Hawthorne


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-river_14sep14,1,7275509.story?ctrack=2&cset=true


Most of the water in the Chicago River is, according to this story, treated 
sewage loaded with bacteria, but officials contend they shouldn't be forced 
to clean up the waterway unless a newly commissioned study finds people are 
getting sick from the murky flow.

Under pressure from Mayor Richard Daley and others to turn the stagnant 
canals into civic amenities, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District 
asked researchers to survey folks who dip a canoe or kayak into the river 
during the next year. The goal is to compare their rates of illness to the 
rates for people who swim in Lake Michigan or have no contact with either 
body of water.
The first major push to enroll people in the study comes Sunday, when more 
than 450 participants in the Chicago River Flatwater Classic paddle a 
stretch of the waterway from Clark Park on the North Side to Ping Tom Park 
in Chinatown.

Until the district commissioned the study, the Illinois Environmental 
Protection Agency had been on track to move forward with standards that for 
the first time would limit the amount of bacteria allowed in the river. 
Environmental groups grumble that the study could delay or scuttle those 
efforts.


The story says that district officials are drawing up plans to disinfect the 
region's treated sewage, something most other large cities already do. But 
they also argue that it might not be worth it to clean up the river.


Richard Lanyon, the district's general superintendent, was quoted as saying, 
"Thank you, Mr. Mayor, for calling for disinfection. If he wants to put up 
the money to make it happen, that's great. But we still don't know if there 
are any health risks."