Chlorides, Environmental Regulation & Management in NE Illinois

Stephen McCracken - DRSCW

• Village of Addison • Arcadis US, Inc. • Village of Arlington Heights • Baxter & Woodman, Inc. • Village of Bartlett • Village of Bensenville • Village of Bloomingdale • Village of Bolingbrook • CDM Smith • Village of Carol Stream • Christopher B. Burke Engineering • Village of Clarendon Hills • College of DuPage • Village of Downers Grove • Downers Grove Sanitary District • DuPage County • DuPage County Health Department • City of Elmhurst • Elmhurst-Chicago Stone Company • Engineering Resource Associates

• Forest Preserve District of DuPage County

• Geosyntec Consultants • Glenbard Wastewater Authority • Village of Glen Ellyn • Village of Glendale Heights • HDR, Inc. • HR Green, Inc. • Village of Hanover Park • Hey and Associates, Inc. • Ross A. Hill • Village of Hinsdale • Village of Hoffman Estates • Huff & Huff, Inc. • Illinois Department of Transportation • Illinois State Toll Highway Authority • Inter-Fluve, Inc. • Village of Itasca • Village of Lisle • Village of Lombard • Metropolitan Water Reclamation

District of Greater Chicago • City of Naperville

• City of Oakbrook Terrace • Prairie Rivers Network • RJN Group, Inc. • Robinson Engineering, Ltd. • Village of Roselle • Salt Creek Sanitary District • Salt Creek Watershed Network • Village of Schaumburg • Sierra Club, River Prairie Group • Strand Associates, Inc. • Suburban Laboratories, Inc. • The Conservation Foundation • The Morton Arboretum • V3 Companies • Village of Villa Park • Walter E. Deuchler Associates • City of Warrenville • WellSpring Environmental Products • City of West Chicago • Village of Westmont • City of Wheaton • Wheaton Sanitary District • City of Wood Dale • Village of Woodridge • York Township Highway Department

Project Area lies in Cook and DuPage Counties (NE Illinois)

DRSCW Project Area

Approximately 360 square miles of watershed Three waterways (100 miles of main stem stream) 55 municipal entities 156 MGD of effluent (based on DAF) from 25 POTW operators Urban to suburban with 48.7% being classified as residential, 24.7% as non-residential urban and 26.6% as open space, including water Approved TMDLs for DO and chloride on several reaches

What is a Total Maximum Daily Load ?

• A TMDL is the maximum amount of a pollutant that a water body can receive while meeting water quality standards for its designated use.

• A chloride TMDL should:

1. Estimate chloride loads from all sources

2. Determine the capacity of the water bodies to contain that loading without violating the standards,

3. Develop an implementation plan to reduce chloride loads in order to meet the water quality standards.

Water Quality Standards

Illinois State Standard - Chlorides (total) - 500 mg/l

Parameter National Criteria Chronic (mg/l)

Acute (mg/l)

Chloride (total)* 230 860

National Aquatic Life Criteria for Chloride (Federal)

Iowa State Standard Chronic (mg/l)

Acute (mg/l)

Chloride (total)* 389 629

*Based on given concentrations of sulphate and hardness Federal value under review

TMDL Status in DRSCW Area

Legend

Streams Chloride TMDL Segments

Streams Assessed

Streams Non Assessed

DRSCW_Watersheds¯ 0 3 61.5 Miles

State Water Quality Data for developing TMDLs

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

10/14 11/3 11/23 12/13 1/2 1/22 2/11 3/3

Ch

lori

de

Co

nce

ntr

atio

n (

mg

/L)

Date

West Branch, Hanover Park, Chloride Concentration Winter 2008, 2009, 2010 Comparison

Winter 2007-08

Winter 2008-09

Winter 2009-10

500 mg/L Chloride Standard

Program Goals

• IEPA TMDL recommended chloride load reductions

– East Branch DuPage River - 33% reduction

– West Branch DuPage River - 35% reduction

– Salt Creek - 14% reduction

• DRSCW / local agency data comparison:

Salt Creek East Branch West Branch

Total

TMDL Target, Tons of Cl-/yr

13,300 5,200 13,700 32,200

TMDL Baseline, Tons of Cl-/yr

15,500 7,800 21,100 44,400

DRSCW Baseline, Tons of Cl-/yr

32,600 16,900 21,200 70,700

Activities

Salt Reduction Steps

1) Driver training

2) Salt spreader calibration

3) Develop appropriate application rates

4) Pre-wet de-icer

5) Equipment updates

Speed servo controls

On-board pre-wet

Computer controls

6) Coordinate salt application during plowing

7) Control salt spread width

8) Prioritize road system

9) Anti-Ice

Survey Results 2007-2012 Alternative Practices

Chloride Facts • Water quality standard is 500 mg/L

• 1 tsp of salt contaminates 5 gallons of water to a chronic threshold (long term adverse affect)

• 1 tablespoon of salt contaminates 5 gallons of water to an acute threshold (immediate adverse impact)

• 50 lbs salt will contaminate 10,000 gallons of water

• Chlorides do not biodegrade

• No deicers are “good” for water quality - all have an impact

– Labeling caution: packages may boast “environmentally friendly” but all have an impact

Elgin O’Hare Western Access Project Details – 25 miles of Mainline

Improvements

– 16 Service Interchanges

– 4 System Interchanges

– 16 miles of Arterial Improvements

– Provisions for Transit and Bicycle/ Pedestrian Facilities

Salt Creek

West Branch DuPage

River

• Salt Creek and West Branch have been under a chloride TMDL since 2004 • Chlorides indentified as a priority impairment to aquatic life in 2010 by locally funded causal analysis • Local agencies have been working aggressively to lower chlorides from winter deicing operations since before 2007 ¯

0 2 4 6 81Miles

EOWA And DRSCW Area Map

Legend

EOWA_Preferred_Alternative_Option A

Aquatic Life Attainment

Full

Non

Partial

Water Ways

DRSCW_Watersheds

Concept Two steps to reach “no net increase”

• Tollway would rationalize current practices (estimated reduction of 20%)

• Remaining increase in loading would be offset by reductions in loading from communities neighboring EOWA (Tier 1 communities)

– Additionally partners agreed to offset at a minimum ratio of 1-1.25 so target 1,853 tons

New N.H. certification program aims to reduce road salt use during winter storms - Thursday, July 4, 2013

• Interstate 93 in southern New Hampshire undergoing from four to eight lanes

•Federal approval included condition that the high levels of chloride in four nearby streams be reduced

•The state DOT and municipal road crews have already reduced their use of road salt. But, Williams said, in some areas private salt applicators are responsible for up to half of the chloride runoff into nearby watersheds.

Questions ?

Problem Analysis

Salt Application Summary for Elgin O'Hare Western Access Project Limits

Estimated Annual Salt Application Totals

Project Stage Lane

miles a Salt Applied,

ton/yr b

Increase from Existing

Condition Ton/yr

Existing (Baseline) Condition 159 3,959 N/A Initial Construction Phase (ICP) 264 7,847 3,888 DRSCW Watersheds 1,482

a Lane miles include arterial/collector and freeway lane miles located within the project limits

b Considers two different salt application rates depending on the roadway class. Arterial/collector roads are loaded at 14 ton/lane mile/year. Freeways are loaded at 39.7 ton/lane mile/ year.

Project Area and Tier 1 Municipalities

Legend

EOWA_Preferred_Alternative_Option A

Water Ways

DRSCW_Watersheds

Schaumburg

Elmhurst

Itasca

Roselle

Elk Grove Village

Wood DaleBensenville

Hanover Park

Project Area and Tier 1 Municipalities

Legend

EOWA_Preferred_Alternative_Option A

Water Ways

DRSCW Watershed Boundary ¯

Evaluation

- Agency Baselines being set currently

- Documentation of training and implementation

- In-stream monitoring for impacted waterways