A new EPA rule would allow wastewater treatment facilities to dump sewage into lakes and rivers.

Doug Hissom reports in this week's Shepherd Express on how that could affect the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD):

"The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District may be able to blend to their heart's content if a new EPA plan is put in place. "Blending" is when partially treated sewage is released, a trick MMSD's operator, United Water, has used to avoid massive untreated overflows. The new rule, expected within a few weeks, reverses current regulations calling for full treatment. Expect more beach closings, dumps in the lake, and maybe another cryptosporidium outbreak or two, environmentalists say, which would threaten the health of the 35 million people who drink and use Great Lakes water."

MMSD has repeatedly faced criticism for the practice from local conservative talk show hosts looking to criticize city officials. I wonder if they'll be as vocal on the fact that their favorite president's EPA has endorsed the "blending" process.