Group fights water plant (UALR Public Radio) - An Oklahoma environmental group is trying to stop a new sewage plant in northwest Arkansas it believes will violate the federal Clean Water Act.

The group, Save the Illinois River, says the Northwest Arkansas Conservation Authority's plant will be a new source of phosphorous in the Illinois River basin. It says the region is already impaired by phosphrous.

The group wants Arkansas regulators to reconsider the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality's October permitting decision. It claims the plant will discharge 30 pounds of phosphorous a day.

The new plant will serve Bentonville and other communities. It is scheduled to open next year and will be located on Osage Creek, which flows into the Illinois River. Both have excessive levels of phosphorous and are on EPA's list of impaired waters. © Copyright 2010, UALR Public Radio