SILOAM SPRINGS — City officials flew to Washington last week to ask for help on transportation and water quality issues affecting Northwest Arkansas.

City Administrator David Cameron and Wayne Mays, president and chief executive officer of Siloam Springs Chamber of Commerce, left Wednesday with officials from the four largest cities in the area: Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers and Springdale.

They spent Thursday meeting with federal government officials and U.S. legislators to discuss the Bella Vista bypass and phosphorus and water quality issues.

“I believe the trip was effective,” Cameron said. “In fact, of all the trips that I have made to D.C. to discuss water quality, this was perhaps the most effective. However, only time will tell.”

Mays agreed with Cameron about the trip.

“I think it was definitely successful,” he said.

Mayors from the other cities deferred to Cameron when it came to discussing water quality issues because of his experience in waterand wastewater, Mays said.

“They accepted his comments well,” he said.

Some of the federal officials they met with were from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Transportation and the deputy director for the Office of Management and Budget.

The legislators they met withincluded Congressmen John Boozman, Marion Berry and Mike Ross; and Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor.

The specific water quality issue they talked about involved a stricter phosphorus requirement the EPA wants to impose on a new sewer plant on Osage Creek.

The plant, which will be operated by Northwest Arkansas Conservation Authority, might be required to release no more than .1 milligrams of phosphorus per liter of water.

This is 10 times less phosphorus than Siloam Springs’ new plant will be required to release.

“The NWA region as a group, not just cities, havemade major strides to improve water quality,” he said.

Siloam Springs is building a $24 million sewer plant that will reduce the amount of phosphorus being released into Sager Creek to less than 1 milligram of phosphorus per liter of water.

Fayetteville spent $180 million on its sewer plant and Springdale, $30 million, to achieve similar emission levels, Cameron said.

Siloam Springs and the four largest NorthwestArkansas cities agreed with Oklahoma in 2003 to build or improve their sewer plants to reduce phosphorus emissions to the 1 mg/L level.

Siloam Springs must comply with the agreement starting Dec. 1.

Northwest Arkansas officials want EPA officials to wait on a study on water quality to be completed on the Illinois River watershed before requiring lower limits.

Mays said chamber officials from each city flew withtheir mayors to offer them support.

“A lot of work went into preparing this trip of which Mike Malone and Martine Pollard deserve the credit,” Cameron said. “We went to Washington with a unified message and I was excited to see our region working as one and Siloam Springs being a part of it.”

News, Pages 1 on 10/14/2009

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