Neillsville City Council Approves Phase 4 Phosphorus Compliance Plan
Wednesday, September 28th, 2016 -- 9:08 AM
-The Neillsville City Council approved the Phase 4 Phosphorus Compliance Plan at their meeting on Tuesday.This plan has been talked about for some time now as the Wisconsin DNR works to cut back on the amount of phosphorus found in the state’s water. In order to do that, the DNR set limits on the amount of phosphorus municipalities all around the state can have in their water. However, due to the extensive cost behind the removal procedures, the DNR has offered various methods to help the municipalities meet their goals. The city of Neillsville currently has .5 mg/L of phosphorus in their water. The DNR’s ultimate goal is to get municipalities down to .075 mg/L.
For Neillsville, they were given four options which include an economic variance, a multi-discharger variance, water quality trading and a mechanical upgrade. The economic variance was the cheapest for the city with the cost coming to $15,100. The more expensive route would have been the mechanical upgrade to the city’s plant, which would have cost millions of dollars. With this economic variance, it sets a goal of .2 mg/L for phosphorus levels in the water and the city simply pays the difference to their current level, which is .5. This economic variance has to be updated every 5 years. This item was first approved during the Public Works portion of the meeting and again during the regular Common Council Meeting.
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