Erickson testifies at EPA hearing
Posted 2/6/03

Rep. Sondra Erickson (R-Princeton) asked the Environmental Protection Agency for accountability and more oversight by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency when she testified at a recent EPA re-hearing for a discharge permit for ML Wastewater Management, Inc., the non-profit that will operate the wastewater treatment facility under construction for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe near Onamia.

EPA offered the second hearing on Jan. 22 because several area residents had challenged the proposed May 2001 permit at the initial hearing in late 2000.

Erickson presented ten points consisting of several questions that ranged from the extent to which EPA will control the wastewater management/discharge of ML to what part the federal agency may have played in the drafting of the contract between ML and the Garrison Kathio West Mille Lacs Sanitary Sewer District, the collection system planned along the west side of the lake.

Concerns about to whom ML is accountable as a non-profit led the line of questions. Erickson pointed out the process required by non-profits chartered by the State of Minnesota, asking whether those kinds of checks and balances will be in place for a non-profit chartered by the Mille Lacs Band. "Who will hold the facility accountable for fiscal matters as well as the provision both of the permit and the sewer contract?" Erickson asked.

Erickson said, "It is important that the Chicago office explain to area residents whether or not the system design for ML is the best for the wetland area and the lake area receiving the effluent." She noted the classification of the Rum River as wild and scenic, a state classification that consists of specific regulations to protect it. "In times of extreme climate conditions, will the wetlands remain unharmed and the Rum unscathed?" she asked.

Another question dealt with accountability of standards. "How will the people of Minnesota know what is dumped at the wastewater site? Will there be more than periodic monitoring?" Erickson asked, saying she expects EPA to provide a regular inspection schedule that is published and that inspection reports include participation by the MPCA. "Will PCA attend the inspections, will the results be released to the public and will the public know whether or not the suggestions for improvement are implemented?" she inquired.

Erickson also expressed concern about insurance coverage of the non-profit facility and about the future of the present lagoon system. Erickson criticized EPA officials for use of general language instead of specific in the report to the public about the discharges from the present pond system. She noted the report said the Band's discharges "have generally conformed to the requirements established by EPA." She requested that EPA explain the reasons specific information about that compliance was not released. Noting that she has lost confidence in the bureaucracy -- whether federal, state or local -- Erickson said she questions the integrity of the Region Five office in Chicago because of a controversy surrounding a proposed sludge rule labeled the 503 Sludge Rule, exposed in a report entitled "For Whom the Bell Tolls." She explained that when the public questioned the use of that rule and its questionable scientific base, an EPA official told a concerned citizen that the bell tolled for her [community] if the rule were not followed.

Saying she will not tolerate that kind of attitude toward the land or the people living on tribal and non-tribal land or that kind of disregard for sludge deposits, Erickson asked the Chicago office to provide scientific documentation that refutes the charges made in the report and assurance the rule was not adopted or implemented.

Erickson also questioned charges against the Chicago office for co-mingling political advocacy and regulatory power when dealing with Indian tribes. "Region Five from Chicago has been under fire for operating on an 'inner circle' basis with Indian tribes," Erickson said, asking whether or not EPA recommended a 45-year contract between ML and the sewer district. Co-mingling suggests there is not fair treatment of all parties involved in this project, she said.

Erickson closed her remarks by asking the Chicago officials a final question: "Does EPA think it is right to allow control of our sewage (Garrison Kathio West Mille Lacs Sanitary Sewer District) by a governmental body in which 99 percent of the citizens can not participate?"