The City of Custer & Its Contractor want YOU to believe that the Wastewater Discharge into French Creek will be clean.
If it is "clean" water:
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why does Custer City's Facility Plan & Permit state that the Creek will be degraded?
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couldn't it be discharged anywhere - including above and into Stockade Lake.
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the city could use it as another source for residential drinking water.
Preserve French Creek, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation
Consequences of Sewage Wastewater Flowing into French Creek:
If Custer is permitted to go forward with its plan to discharge wastewater into French Creek:
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Up to 750,000 gallons if Custer’s sewage wastewater will be allowed to flow into the Creek DAILY.
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During drier seasons with low flows, as occurs most years in the first miles of the French Creek where the initial discharge will occur, the wastewater will comprise as much as 90% of the liquid in the Creek.
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*French Creek waterflows, used by the City of Custer in their plans and reports, came from U.S. Geological Service (USGS) water measurement meters located 22 miles downstream from the City’s planned discharge location into the Creek. Water levels at the USGS meter location are considerably more than stream flows in the first few miles of the planned discharge area.
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Water levels affect treatment formulations.
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The temperature of the Creek’s waters will raise under the volume of wastewater being discharged, causing the current spawning areas of the trout found in the creek and trout fisheries to disappear.
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Under its current plan, ammonia and phosphorus levels will be allowed to rise far above current levels (recognized by the State of South Dakota in the permit issued) and eventually cause eutrophication of the Creek, as evidenced by other locations where sewage wastewater from the City has been discharged.
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The degradation (the process in which the beauty or quality of something is destroyed or spoiled) of French Creek - from a Tier II “high quality waters” stream classification - is acknowledged and will be allowed under Custer’s plan and permit.
CURRENT SIGN AT FLYNN CREEK DISCHARGE
(2023)
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The new Submerged Aerated Gravel Reactor (SAGR) system treatment of sewage wastewater touted by the City of Custer WILL NOT remove all chemicals (household cleaning products, lawn fertilizers and pesticides and pharmaceuticals ingested by or flushed in toilets) that will flow into French Creek from the wastewater plant. Nor, will it remove high levels of phosphate or lower ammonia levels in sewage wastewater.
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Trout, fisheries, aquatic life, plant life, birds, wildlife, and people will be negatively impacted by the amount of sewage wastewater that will be dumped into French Creek. Impacts will be accumulative.