The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent notice that it has added 32 waterways to Minnesota’s 2020 Impaired Waters List, according to a report by the Red Lake Nation News.
In a release Nov. 5, the EPA states each state is required to identify waterways where existing pollution controls are not sufficient to meet state water quality standards and develop a list of the impaired water bodies.
“The list of 32 waters and EPA’s response to comments are available at: https://www.epa.gov/tmdl/epas-additions-minnesotas-2020-impaired-waters-list,” the Red Lake Nation News reports.
The addition is made under Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act, the report said, and comprises waters with sulfate concentrations that exceed the criterion to protect waters used for the production of wild rice.
The EPA considered public comments and tribal input in determining the screening criteria for the list. A public comment period beginning April 27 allowed for the public to discuss the first 30 waters added to the list. On Sept. 1, this was reopened for commentary on an additional three waters to the list. Among these, one — the Embarrass River — did not meet the criteria and was removed from the list before it was submitted Nov. 5.
