Dairyland Power Cooperative (DPC) received tentative approval to renew two permits that allow it to discharge water into the Mississippi River, but a local citizen's group intends to ask for an informational hearing on the permit.

The water is used in steam production at their Genoa and Alma coal-fired power plants.

The permit, issued through the Department of Natural Resources Bureau of Watershed Management, has been in place for a number of years, but the renewed permits have a few changes in an effort to reduce the environmental impact of the discharge.

According to permit application papers filed with the DNR and statements made by DNR and Dairyland officials, the Genoa plant uses approximately 188 million gallons of river water per day and the permit sets new limits for mercury levels in the discharge and eliminates daily reporting of water temperature. Perhaps the biggest change in the permit at the Genoa facility is the level of mercury allowed in the discharge water.

Permit documents indicate that Dairyland will be allowed a variance to exceed the allowable limit of 5.4 nanograms of mercury per liter and go as high as 12 nanograms per liter.

According to Jeffrey Brauer, who drafted the permit, those numbers are somewhat deceptive because the levels allowed are dependent on "background" levels of mercury already in the river water. Brauer said it is uncertain how much mercury is in the river water and the amount varies at different points during the year. Brauer said much of the mercury already present in river water is believed to be from precipitation and atmospheric mercury that is produced by coal-fired power plants and settles in watersheds.

Brauer said the DNR is working to reduce mercury emissions, so eventually fish advisories that limit the amount of fish that the public can consume are eventually eliminated. Brauer said Dairyland was granted the variance because the amounts are of mercury are trace amounts and the discharge will generally only be for short periods of time. Brauer said the DNR tries to work with facilities to reduce discharge levels and Dairyland has shown it is working to reduce the amount of mercury.

Dairyland's Director of Environmental Affairs Don Huff said there is no technology available right now to reach the 5.4 ng/liter limit and it is believed the mercury being produced at the Genoa facility is coming from one of the water treatment processes that are used to treat water going into some of the steam production equipment. Huff said their testing has narrowed the mercury discharge down to some chemicals used in the treatment process and Dairyland is working to find other chemicals that do not produce the mercury.

"Where we are picking up the mercury appears to be in the caustic and acid solutions that we use to demineralize the polishing boiler water," said Huff. "The mercury is coming in the chemicals and we are looking for more pure chemicals, but we are talking about such low concentrations that we can we just can't get that very easily from our suppliers. DNR is understanding of that and they are allowing the variance."

Brauer and Huff said another reason for the variance is that all of the wastewater discharge will be used in the scrubber process scheduled to come on line in 2010. The new scrubber technology uses water and lime injected into the smokestack at the plant to drastically reduce the amount of sulfur dioxide and mercury in the air emitted from the plant. Huff said the wastewater will be used for that injection process.

When asked if the mercury in the wastewater will then contaminate the scrubber waste, Huff said the amount of mercury in the waste waster is negligible -- it amounts to about a hundredth of a pound per year. Huff said in comparison the amount of mercury removed from the air in the scrubber process is about 100 pounds per year.

Brauer said from a wastewater standpoint the "dry" scrubber Dairyland is implementing is a better solution to meeting air emission standards than the "wet" process that other facilities are implementing. Brauer said in the wet process more of the byproduct is reusable as gypsum board and other products, but the water that is removed in that process that needs to be discharged contains much higher levels of mercury that has been removed from air emissions. Brauer said some of the facilities that are using that technology have filed applications asking for variances to discharge as high as 100 or 1,000 nanograms of mercury per liter.

Scott Leum is a member of People for H.O.P.E. (Harmony Township Opposing Pollution of the Environment), a group of landowners opposed to Dairyland's proposed landfill in Vernon County for the scrubber waste. He said People for H.O.P.E intend to ask for an informational meeting on the permit and variance. Leum said the group did not want to get into specific objections over the permit, but the group met and believed there are too many "unanswered questions" regarding the permit.

Brauer said if five citizens ask for a meeting then one will be provided. Brauer said the meeting would be a hearing, but simply informational and would allow him a chance to hear concerns and take them into consideration before giving final approval for the permit. Brauer said concerns need to be well founded before they will be used to alter or stop a permit. Leum said People for H.O.P.E. does intend to request a meeting by the Dec. 14 deadline. Brauer said if there is such a meeting it would likely be held in La Crosse.

Dairyland has also been grated permission by the state Commissioner of Railroads to install a new crossing south of the existing crossing at the plant. According to Dairyland officials, the crossing is needed to provide better safety as it will have new signal equipment. The new crossing will also better accommodate truck traffic that will be routed to the back of the facility when the new scrubber comes into operation.

The total cost of the crossing is not listed in the documents, but states the DOT will use federal safety money for 100 percent of the cost of signals. Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad will be responsible for concrete and track work and DPC will be responsible for roadway and grading work.