Pretreatment Program Continues to Protect Muncie’s White River from Industrial Pollutants

White River photo by: Rick ConradWhite River photo by: Rick Conrad

By: Rick Conrad—

The Muncie Sanitary District’s Bureau of Water Quality recently received the results of an Indiana Department of Environmental Management periodic audit of its industrial pretreatment program.

Muncie’s program, headed by Director Rick Conrad, is the local water quality testing and enforcement agency responsible for ensuring industries treat their potentially toxic wastewater before it can reach the White River or its tributaries. Since the establishment of this program by John Craddock in 1972, the Bureau of Water Quality’s rigorous permitting, chemical sampling, and biological assessments have helped clean-up a river once devastated by toxic levels of heavy metals.

The White River in Muncie has since seen the virtual elimination of this notorious group of hazardous pollutants leading to an incredible recovery of fish, mussels, and other aquatic wildlife. The intensely thorough audit of Muncie’s program and its permitted industries, which involves a 100-page report and a two-day site-visit, found no instances of violations within the program for the first time since 1999.

Wildlife such as this Green Heron have seen a remarkable recovery due to a virtual elimination of hazardous pollutants.

Wildlife such as this Green Heron have seen a remarkable recovery due to a virtual elimination of hazardous pollutants.