By James Bruggers
The Courier-Journal

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has concluded Kentucky is failing to adequately protect as much as two-thirds of its rivers, streams and lakes from being harmed by pollution.

On Friday, it put teeth in that conclusion, issuing a water quality standard for Kentucky that could result in thousands to millions of dollars in additional pollution control costs to businesses and communities in Kentucky, according to an EPA analysis.

The federal agency is proposing the water quality standard for Kentucky that the Clean Water Act requires but that the state never imposed.

The standard would require the state to more closely scrutinize any new or expanded industrial plants, or other facilities that would increase pollution in the state's so-called "high quality waters."

The rivers, streams and lakes covered by the standard are those where water quality exceeds a level that supports aquatic life and recreation, the agency said.

The EPA estimates that as much as 67 percent of Kentucky waters might fall under that category, but it did not specify any. The agency will accept public comment on the proposed standard until March 14.

N. Kentucky waterways

Jeff Eger, general manager for Sanitation District No. 1 in Northern Kentucky, said the two largest water bodies in his region - the Ohio and Licking rivers - would qualify as "high quality waters" under the EPA's definition. He also said many other waterways in the northern part of the state are hindered by sewer overflows and runoff from farms and highways.

"This is an issue that Kentucky has been struggling with for about 10 years," said Fritz Wagener, water quality standards coordinator with the EPA's regional office in Atlanta. "The intent of the rule is to minimize water quality degradation."

In Ohio, Hamilton County's Metropolitan Sewer District signed a legal agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice earlier this year that will force it to eliminate discharges from about 17 sanitary sewers over the next two decades in exchange for the EPA not issuing fines or penalties for decades of violations. The final bill for that work could top $1 billion.

Bruce Koehler, an environmental planner with the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments, said he sees many areas in Ohio that need more enforcement. One of the biggest problems along the Mill Creek, he said, is illegal fill being dumped on the river's banks that can bleed chemicals and create stagnant water.

Environmentalists applaud

The Cumberland Chapter of the Sierra Club, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Floyds Fork Environmental Association, Kentucky Waterways Alliance and the Kentucky Resources Council pressed in court for the EPA to impose the standard in Kentucky.

Environmental groups declared victory Friday.

"This is about protecting our clean water," said Judith Petersen, executive director of the Kentucky Waterways Alliance. "This has huge implications for future drinking water treatment costs; for the ability of folks to continue to baptize people in our streams; to swim, and to eat the fish we catch."

Among the rule's provisions: Before approving any project that would result in any decline of high-quality waters, the state will need to conclude that the change was needed to accommodate "important economic or social development in the area in which the water is located."

Currently, only about 2 percent of the state's waters - those designated as having "exceptional" water quality - are subject to such review, according to the EPA.

Financial impacts

Mr. Eger said the improvement plan to stop illegal sewage discharges in Kenton, Boone and Campbell counties will cost $350 million to implement.

New pollution controls likely needed to prevent a decline in water quality will cost businesses or municipalities, the EPA acknowledged.

Small businesses and treatment plants - the majority in Kentucky, according to the EPA - might see annual pollution control costs increase "a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands of dollars," according to an EPA analysis. But major facilities could see annual pollution control costs increase from $100,000 to a few million dollars per year, the analysis said.

New or expanded municipal sewage treatment facilities would also fall under the standard's provisions if they discharge into high quality waters.

The Metropolitan Sewer District in Louisville has been expanding most of its treatment plants, with new discharge levels that fall below existing regulations, said Bud Schardein, the agency's acting executive director. It's too soon to say how the proposed standard might affect MSD, he said.

The dispute between Kentucky and the EPA goes back a decade, and Friday's move by the agency was anticipated, said Tom Van Arsdale, a supervisor in the standards section of the Kentucky Division of Water. In 1997 and 2000, the EPA rejected the state's attempt to adopt a standard on preventing a decline in water quality because they were insufficient.

The rejections stem in part from the difficulty the state's Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet had in getting a tougher standard through the skeptical legislative committees that must approve them, he said.

While it isn't clear when the federal standard would go into effect, the EPA said it would withdraw its proposal if Kentucky enacts something similar.

Enquirer reporter Dan Klepal contributed.