April 8, 2011 – Although the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality had developed a proposed Pesticide General Permit and conducted a public hearing on the issue on March 22, 2011, the agency has decided to delay issuance of the permit, based on a deadline extension that was recently granted to the EPA.

The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality will host a public information session from 5-7 p.m. May 10 at the Lancaster County Extension Offices located at 444 Cherrycreek Road. The purpose of the information session will be to discuss environmental cleanup work at the West Haymarket Redevelopment Site North.

On May 3, 2011, NDEQ hosted the annual Environmental Update meeting, which was attended by approximately 200 business and community representatives. Presentations on a variety of environmental topics were made by staff from NDEQ, as well as Nebraska Game and Parks and the U.S. EPA.

Following are PDF copies of the Powerpoint slides that were part of the presentations made at the Environmental Update:

The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality has scheduled a comment period and public hearing regarding a proposed Class III Underground Injection Control Permit submitted by Crow Butte Resources Inc. This permit is associated with a proposed expansion area for the Crow Butte uranium mining facility, in an area north of Crawford that is referred to as North Trend (see map below).

The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality will conduct a public hearing and information session on June 20 regarding the agency’s proposal to issue, with change, the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for the City of Lincoln-Ashland Potable Water Treatment Plant (PWTP).

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality Director Mike Linder announced today that the state is awarding $1.15 million to support 63 tire recycling and cleanup projects across the state.

"Nebraskans pay a $1 fee for every new tire they purchase," said Linder. "These grants put that money into use locally to help manage scrap tires. We like to see the highest possible beneficial use of these old tires, and these projects help us reach that goal."

A new NPDES Industrial Storm Water General Permit was signed June 30 and is in effect for all applications submitted to NDEQ after July 1, 2011. This general permit, also known as the Industrial Storm Water General Permit, or ISW-GP, NPDES NER900000, is an industrial storm water permit that authorizes discharges of storm water associated with industrial activities to: Waters of the State, Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems, or Combined Sewer Systems.

June 30, 2011 -- The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) has prepared an Infrastructure State Implementation Plan (SIP) for the 2006 24-hour Fine Particle (PM 2.5) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Infrastructure SIPs, which are required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, are plans that provide for the implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of each NAAQS.

The Air Update Workshops will provide the attendee updates on current air quality regulations and issues. NDEQ encourages anyone working with air quality regulations to attend.

 

The state has issued a health alert for toxic blue-green algae at Willow Creek Lake in Pierce County. This is the first health alert issued for the 2011 season. Weekly sampling has been conducted at 47 public lakes in Nebraska since the beginning of May.