WSP06076

• File Number: 8449.913
• Description: Platte River Basin-Miscellaneous Small Projects and Project Studies-Windy Gap/Foothills
• State: CO
• Basin: South Platte
• Water Division: 1
• Date: 7/11/1978
• Title: Foothills Project-Denver Post-Clean Water Act Opened Door for EPA Involvement
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: News Article/Press Release

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***THE DENVER POST

Sun,. June II, 1978 31 SECTION C

:Clean Water Act Opened
Door for EP A Involvement

The involvement of the U,S, Environ,
mental Protection Agency in t~e construc~
tion of the Foothills water project results
from Section 404 of the Clean Water Act
passed by Congress.
The act allows for the disposal of
dredged or fill material from a river inw
I waters if a permit is issued by the secre-
tary of the Army, acting through the
Army Corps of Engineers.

SUCH A PERMIT is needed for the
1 Denver Water Board to begin bUilding
I Foothills, The EPA has opposed issuance
I ~f the permit, now being considered by
I the dish'ict corps office in Omaha, Neb,
The corps' district office is to make a
I recommendation this month and pass 'its
I ruling on to the- Missouri River Basin
I division of the corp$:.
I Eventually, the matler is expected to
end up in Washington, where the corps'
chief engineer and the national EPA ad-
ministrator will issue a final ruling.
National EPA chief Douglas Costle ai,
ready h:.s backed his regional COllnter-

part, Alan Merson, in opposiiion to the
permit being issued,
A spokesman for Castle, however, in.
sisled that he hadn't ruled, out the possi,
bility of a permit for Foothills. Th.
EPA's ultimate veto power OVer a: project
never has been used, said spokesman
Marlin Fitzwater in a recent interview.
"WE CERTAINLY would be hopeful We
can work something out with the corps,"
he said, One possibility may b. a
compromise over the site of Foothills'
dam and reservoir at Strontia Springs,
Fitzwater said,
Under the Clean Water Ad, the na.
tional EPA administrator "is authorized
to prohibIt Ihe specification of any
defined areas as a disposal site. I,
The law requires notice of such action
and an "opportunity for public hearings. "
A decision to prohibit the permit Can be
reached when the adminislrator deter-
mines "the discharge ,. , will have an
unacceptable adverse effect on muniCipal
water supplies, shellfish beds and fishery
areas. . . wildlife or recreational areas."

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