Residential Services | Gas | Water | Home | Contact Us |
 |
 |
|
6.16.04 M.U.D. can drill wells by Platte In a close vote that could end a long-standing controversy, the Lower Platte North Natural Resources District's Board on Monday approved 18 well permits for the Metropolitan Utilities District's water treatment plant project along the Platte River. NRD directors voted 11-7 to approve the permits with a set of conditions, said Larry Angle, water resources manager for the NRD. Officials on both sides of the issue say they hope the vote ends years of legal and political wrangling. Some landowners feared it would lower water tables and ponds, while others said it could move contaminants from the former Nebraska Ordnance Plant near Mead into local aquifers. The 18 permits were the last administrative hurdle for M.U.D., which is building a $300 million water treatment plant project called Platte West. It is designed to meet the growth needs of an expanding Omaha metropolitan area. "We were pleased that they issued the permits," said M.U.D. president and general manager Tom Wurtz. "The conditions pretty much mirror the suggestions we made to them on what we would do." Said Lower Platte North NRD general manager John Miyoshi: "I think we have a lot more protection than if the permits would have been issued without the conditions." Miyoshi said the NRD still had regulatory authority over the wells under its groundwater management area, which protects the interests of the district and the public. The Wahoo-based NRD and M.U.D. were at odds over the permits but had worked to resolve the issue over the past 30 to 45 days, Wurtz said. The state Department of Natural Resources and the attorney general's office were involved in the talks. In early May, the NRD denied the permits for the 18 wells in Saunders County, saying M.U.D.'s applications were incomplete and more groundwater studies were needed. At one point, M.U.D. was considering legal action against the NRD, claiming it did not have authority to delay or reject the permits. Wurtz also accused some NRD board members of "discriminating" against Omaha and its residents. M.U.D. already has the needed federal and state permits for the project, which is scheduled to become operational June 1, 2008. Wurtz said the granting of the permits and conditions was a good example of how two public entities can work out differences. "It looks like something we can live with," he said. |
|
