Opinion

Hasn't been sanitary district for 10 years

Posted November 16, 2008 10:00 pm

Regarding your headline of Wednesday, Nov. 5, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago enthusiastically welcomes it incumbents Frank Avila, Kathleen Therese Meany and Cynthia Santos back to the Board of Commissioners - not the Sanitary District Board.

The name of the district was changed nearly 20 years ago, in 1989, to reflect the goals, mission and responsibilities of the organization. Created in 1889, the Sanitary District of Chicago was commissioned with the sole purpose - to keep sewage waste out of Lake Michigan, the source of area drinking water.

Over the past 100 years, the district and its responsibilities have grown exponentially to include flood protection, stormwater management, biosolids development and beneficial reuse; and it monitors and sustains 1,000 miles of small streams and all 76 navigable miles of the Chicago Area Waterways System.

The district serves the combined equivalent of 10 million residents and commercial/industrial users.

Jill B. Horist

Manager of Public Affairs

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District

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