By Meredith Gardner
meredith.gardner@theindependent.com

As part of its meeting Monday, the health department board met with Steve Riehle, Grand Island Public Works director, to talk about sharing information similar to the reports the city sends to the Department of Environmental Quality on wastewater, said Ryan King, health department assistant director.

Acting as an agency independent of the city, the department can use the reports to alert neighboring counties and the public of any wastewater discharge problems, King said. Monitoring the discharge into area waterways, such as the Wood River, will remain the responsibility of the DEQ.

On Friday, the city gave the health department its wastewater report from March, including information about a March 28 violation that is being blamed for the killing of more than 10,000 fish along 24 miles of the city's outfall ditch and the Wood and Platte Rivers, Riehle said.

The city and JBS Swift & Co. have taken a number of actions to prevent a similar violation from happening again, Riehle said.

But if the wastewater treatment plant experiences another "hiccup" in the near or long term, the health department would serve as a partner with the city to notify Hall and Merrick County residents and government officials of health issues associated with such an incident, Riehle said.

"They can help evaluate what kind of precaution users can take downstream," Riehle said. The health department can also be a resource for those who have questions about the safety of wells and other water sources that could be affected by wastewater discharge.

The frequency of the information sharing has yet to be ironed out, Riehle said, especially since the city doesn't want to overload the health department with information if discharge levels are normal.

If the city exceeds its discharge permit, however, it would be in daily communication with the health department about water contamination levels, Riehle said.

The health department is also looking into creating a more formal policy regarding how to communicate with the public about health issues, King said. The department will work with city and county officials to see what should be included in the policy and whether it should be more general or relate specifically to wastewater issues.

While the voluntary sharing of wastewater discharge information between the city and health department is a positive step, one Merrick County resident said he is concerned about policy decisions that may be made without the formation of an interlocal committee.

Randy Stueven, who lives just inside Merrick County at 233 S. Gunbarrel Road, spoke at Monday's health board meeting and has pushed for the formation of an interlocal committee that would create a policy for monitoring the condition of area waterways.

The committee should be composed of representatives from Hall and Merrick County government, the city of Grand Island and the health department, Stueven said.

Allowing the health department to put a policy together on its own would just put a "Band-Aid" on the issue without really addressing the concerns of everyone involved, he said.

A committee, however, would be able to take the time necessary to analyze the condition of the waterways and what kind of policies about information exchange and monitoring should be implemented, Stueven said.

"It's important that the people who live along the river know that their drinking water is safe," Stueven said.

King said the health board had moved away from the interlocal committee idea, as the board is composed of residents from Grand Island and Hall, Hamilton and Merrick counties. Also, King said he already has plans to work with the city of Grand Island and county boards as policies are created.

In the past, the health department has had many opportunities to work with the city on public health issues, Riehle and King said, and they hope the sharing of wastewater information will be a continuation of that.

"I think it's very appropriate to have them as a partner to help with any public health concerns regarding our discharge," Riehle said.