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Joliet updates public on NPDES stormwater program; Illinois EPA review finds no major deficiencies
Summary
Consultant Dan Bounds briefed council on the city’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit obligations, public education and monitoring activities, and said Illinois EPA’s recent review and site visits went well.
Dan Bounds of Baxter and Woodman Consulting Engineers told the council Monday that the City of Joliet remains in compliance with Illinois EPA requirements for the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit and that the agency’s January review of documents and two public facilities “went very well.”
Bounds said the permit requires municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) communities to maintain a notice of intent and a stormwater management plan that assign responsibilities among departments, and to file an annual report with Illinois EPA due each June 1. He said the program’s six core components include public education and outreach, illicit‑discharge detection and elimination, construction and post‑construction controls, and pollution prevention and good housekeeping for municipal operations.
Bounds noted the city participates in regional water‑quality monitoring through the Lower DuPage Watershed Coalition and the Lower Des Plaines Watershed work group; he said monitoring data and reports are available on those groups’ websites. He described municipal best management practices such as fleet and building maintenance procedures that reduce pollutants entering the storm drain system.
When asked about winter road salt, Bounds said residual sodium chloride dissolved into stormwater is monitored as chloride and that while chloride impairments tend to be more severe in denser urban areas such as Chicago, monitoring in Joliet is ongoing and currently does not show the same level of impairment.
Bounds said the city’s stormwater program has not changed materially in the past year and that a new permit from Illinois EPA is expected at some point; if issued, it could add requirements that would need additional city resources to implement. He directed residents with concerns about suspected pollutant discharges to contact the Public Works Department at (815) 724‑4200 or through the department’s website.
