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March 2017
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) will hold the 43rd annual Collection System
Conference March 27-29 at the Marriott Northwest in Brooklyn Park. (7025
Northland Drive North, Brooklyn Park, Minn.).
Highlights include:
- SA and SB exam refresher
- SC and SD exam refresher
- Certification examinations
- Vendor and professional
organization displays
Other topics include leadership, pipe and manhole rehab,
asset management, pumps and lift station tour, electrical generation and controls,
infiltration and inflow, cybersecurity, public relations, utility locating, and
much more.
See
the full conference
brochure and registration packet on the MPCA
Wastewater Training webpage. Exam refreshers require pre-registration (see
the registration page of the brochure for details). Questions? Contact Tracy Finch
at 651-757-2103 or tracy.finch@state.mn.us.
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The MPCA will hold the 80th annual Wastewater Operations
Conference March 29-31 at the Marriott Northwest in Brooklyn Park. (7025
Northland Drive North, Brooklyn Park, Minn.).
Highlights include:
- A & B exam refresher
- C & D exam refresher
- Type IV (biosolids) refresher
- Certification examinations
- Vendor and professional organization displays
- Facility Operational Awards ceremony
Other topics include new plant and/upgrades, eDMRs, flooding
challenges and response, emerging issues, energy efficiency, industrial
wastewater, strategies for optimizing operations, stabilization ponds, safety, LSTS/small
plants, and much more.
This
year the MPCA is pleased to announce that more than 300 permitted wastewater
treatment facilities will be receiving an Operational Award. The awards ceremony
will be held Thursday, March 30, at 2:45 p.m.
Recipients will be notified directly and the list is posted on the
MPCA’s wastewater
webpage.
See
the full conference
brochure and registration packet on the MPCA
Wastewater Training webpage. Exam refreshers and type IV refresher require
pre-registration (see the registration page of the brochure for details). Questions?
Contact Tracy Finch at
651-757-2103 or tracy.finch@state.mn.us.
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Please note that you
need to complete your training contact hours before your certification
expiration date. If you need contact hours to maintain your certification, the
following providers offer online training:
For more
information, contact Dianne Navratil at the MPCA at dianne.navratil@state.mn.us.
When filling out our applications and forms, it is
preferable to use your personal email and physical home address. Your
wastewater or collection system license is issued to you, so you are
responsible for it (similar to your driver’s license). Don’t leave it up to
others to take care of it!
If you move, change jobs, or change email addresses, make
sure you notify the MPCA. The agency often has a hard time tracking down
operators when their contact information changes. Contact Dianne Navratil at dianne.navratil@state.mn.us or
651-757-2599 with any changes.
Bonding
proposal includes $167 million for Public Facilities Authority
In
his $1.5 billion bonding proposal for the 2017 legislative session, Gov. Mark
Dayton included $167 million for the Public Facilities Authority to use for
grants and loans to cities for water-related projects. The proposal also raises
the cap on the amount of grant funding per project from $3 million to $7
million, and the percentage of the project cost covered by a grant from 50% to
80%. Introduced as House
File 892 and Senate
File 640 in January, the bill still awaits a hearing as of this writing.
Wipes
clog pipes: MPCA introduces bill again to change labeling
After hearing from several
communities on the expensive damage to their wastewater treatment systems from
personal wipes labeled as “flushable,” the MPCA recently introduced legislation - House
File 1644 and Senate
File 1536 - to change wipes labeling in Minnesota. This proposal would ban “flushable,”
“septic safe,” or “sewer safe” labeling from nonwoven disposable products
(wipes) sold in Minnesota. It would also require the packaging to include a “Do
not flush” message.
 This is the same bill introduced in 2016 that passed the Minnesota Senate but died in a House committee.
For details about the bill, contact Joel Peck, MPCA municipal liaison, at 651-757-2202 or joel.peck@state.mn.us. For a fact sheet about the bill, contact Cathy Rofshus, public information officer, at the phone or email listed below.
Photo at right: The City of Pillager in central Minnesota spent $10,000 over six months repairing and replacing two pumps in its collection system that were damaged by wipes.
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How to cancel a
spreadsheet or DMR
If you have
downloaded a Sample Values Spreadsheet or DMR by mistake and would
like to start over, you can cancel them out by:
- Clicking on the MyWorkspace Tab, under the “My Services – In Progress” section
- Select the red cancel button on the right side of the page
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Make sure you are
canceling out a DMR and not your facility
Tip on Total Residual
Chlorine: Leave boxes blank if no chlorine used
When entering data into spreadsheets: If
chlorine is not used, leave the Total Residual Chlorine boxes blank on both the
sample values and DMR spreadsheets and enter “Chlorine Not Used” on the DMR
comment line. Zero is a value and should not be used unless there is an
actual test result of zero.
If you need the form for completing a Release Sampling Report,
you can find one on the MPCA website: https://www.pca.state.mn.us/sites/default/files/wq-wwtp7-20a.doc
More information
Visit the data managers at the 80th Annual Wastewater
Operations Conference at the DMR Desk or during the DMR session on Wednesday,
March 29.
Go to the MPCA website at www.pca.state.mn.us/water/how-complete-your-discharge-monitoring-report-dmr
or contact your MPCA compliance officer.
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The
MPCA held a series of listening sessions in 2016 for wastewater discharge permit
holders. Cities and wastewater professionals asked for more information about
regulatory certainty, a 2016 law that maintains nutrient limits for facilities
that work to lower nitrogen discharges before Minnesota adopts a nitrogen water
quality standard.
Background:
Regulatory
certainty allows the MPCA to hold the line on nutrient limits in discharge
permits for up to 20 years in exchange for communities and industries agreeing
to lower nutrients even more than current standards. Minnesota has water
quality standards for phosphorus and is working on standards for nitrogen. Both
these nutrients can cause algal blooms harmful to aquatic life and recreation.
Nitrogen can also be toxic to fish and other aquatic life, as well as harmful
to humans in drinking water.
This approach takes the uncertainty out of planning for
facilities needing to upgrade or build systems to comply with phosphorus
limits. By incorporating nitrogen removal too, they can avoid higher costs to
comply with new standards in 5-10 years.
Program
update:
MPCA
legal staff is working on a memorandum of understanding that applicants would
need to sign to qualify for the program. Meanwhile, permit holders may contact
Joel Peck, MPCA municipal liaison, at the email and phone number below for
application instructions and more information.
For
more information about regulatory certainty, contact:
Joel
Peck
Municipal
liaison
MPCA
651-757-2202
joel.peck@state.mn.us
 The Water/Way exhibit is now open at the Becker County Historical Society in Detroit Lakes through April 9. The exhibit will be open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. The Becker County Historical Society & Museum is located at 714 Summit Ave. in Detroit Lakes.
Water/Ways is a traveling exhibition and community engagement initiative of the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street program. In Minnesota, Water/Ways is led by the Minnesota Humanities Center in partnership with MPCA, Minnesota Historical Society, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota section of the American Water Works Association, and six greater Minnesota communities.
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