Raw sewage enters waters of nearly 100 Minnesota communities

More than 35 years after passage of the federal Clean Water Act, 99 mostly rural communities in Minnesota are still releasing raw sewage into lakes and streams. Several of them discharge to the Mississippi River. So-called straight-pipe pollution persists because of cash shortages and formerly weak enforcement provisions of state law.

A draft report by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency suggests that many of the communities cant afford to install modern treatment. The report said 1,043 communities have wastewater problems, all but eight of them with populations under 1,000. Eleven counties declined to cooperate with the study.

A 2006 amendment to state law enables enforcers to levy fines against the straight-pipe communities without first going to court. The state is also providing low-interest loans and grants to some to upgrade their sewage.

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