City staff told the La Crosse Common Council on July 7 that the industrial discharge permit for Great Lakes Cheese is being reissued with a revised format, and the council approved the reissuance after brief questions about sampling and monitoring.

The permit reissuance is intended to make permit limits clearer for industrial users; staff said there were no changes to numeric limits. Jerry, a city staff member addressing the board, said, “Nothing really out of the ordinary there, but, just reissuing of this discharge permit. We've reformatted over the last year or so, to make them all more consistent throughout.” He added that the format change places discharge limits — the information industries most often seek — more prominently in the agreement.

Jerry explained that the permit’s compliance and charges are based on pollutant loadings, specifically biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), total suspended solids (TSS), ammonia and phosphorus. He said industries that discharge above “residential strength” are charged for the higher load so the wastewater plant can be compensated for treating the load. Council Member Goggins asked whether the industry self-tests and self-reports and whether the city samples those results. Jerry replied that Great Lakes Cheese is required to perform a specified number of samples per quarter (the transcript did not specify the number) and that city staff also conduct surprise sampling to check the data. He said discrepancies between the company’s samples and the city’s samples could prompt follow-up.

Director Gallagher moved to approve the reissuance of the industrial discharge permit for Great Lakes Cheese; Council President Dickinson seconded. The council voted by voice and the motion passed. The transcript does not include a roll-call tally or the specific sample counts per quarter. No changes to numeric discharge limits were stated in the record provided.

Direct quotes and attributions in this article are taken from the meeting transcript.