The NY State Department of Environmental Conservation announced Tuesday that it had come to an agreement on the Phosphorus discharge limits for the Groton Sewage Treatment Plant (STP).
After many years of debate, The DEC has finally come up with a reasonable approach to the ongoing problems with phosphorus discharges to the Owasco Inlet from the Town of Groton STP. The new permit will eventually limit the amount of phosphorus the plant can discharge into the Owasco Inlet to .5 milligrams per liter, or approximately two pounds per day. This is the level that OWLA has been lobbying for several years. Higher phosphorus levels have been associated with increased weed growth and algae blooms in the lake. Groton will be required to meet the new limits in 14 months; June, 2010.
The Auburn Citizen had a nice article outlining the final terms of the agreement and OWLA's position on the announcement. Our President ; Joe Wasileski was quoted as follows: "....... the organization is pretty happy about these regulations after eight years of fighting. Every pound of phosphorus can lead to 500 pounds of weeds in the lake, he said.“(Two pounds per day) is a big start,” Wasileski said. “This whole thing has just been dragging on so long.”
Read the entire article at this Link:
http://www.auburnpub.com/articles/2009/03/04/local_news/news02.txt
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