July 11, 2025 • 23 mins
- Mila Marshall, Sierra Club of Chicago
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Todd Gleason (00:00):
I'm University of Illinois Extension's Todd
(00:02):
Gleason out of the office thisweek. Here's an update of what's
happening from Extension acrossthe state next week. Starting on
the fifteenth, there is awebinar hosted by the PharmDoc
team. I'll be the emcee for thatevent from noon to one that's on
Tuesday related to the one bigbeautiful bill and the farm
(00:23):
policy changes it has enactedrelated to commodity programs
and crop insurance. Farmers,landowners, and bankers all need
to be in attendance.
Please register now. You can dothat on our website at
wilag.org, willag.0rg. In thecalendar of events on Tuesday,
(00:45):
July. There'll be some otherthings you can register for as
well. On the 16 next week, theOre Agricultural Research and
Demonstration Center field daywill take place.
The agronomist will be on handin Bayliss. That's in Western
Illinois to the west ofJacksonville. The Monmouth Field
(01:05):
Day is the following week onJuly. They'll follow that up
with the July 24 EwingDemonstration Center Field Day
and then wrap things up here oncampus with the Hemp Research
Open House. That one is on Julyand will require registration.
You can find all thatinformation on the PharmDoc
(01:26):
Daily website or willag.org. Nowup next we'll learn about
constructed wetlands foradvocacy. Todd Gleason services
are made available to WILL byUniversity of Illinois
Extension. Today we'll talk withMila Marshall of the Sierra
(01:56):
Club's Illinois chapter. She'llhighlight the group's work to
reduce nutrient pollution inIllinois through education,
advocacy, and the promotion ofconstructed wetlands.
Hello, Mila. Thanks for beingwith us. Where are you from
actually?
Mila Marshall (02:13):
So, Todd, I'm actually from the city of
Chicago, born and raised, but Ido work across the state in my
role at Sierra Club IllinoisChapter. And thank you so much
for having me here.
Todd Gleason (02:22):
Oh, it it's fantastic to have you on hand
with us. What do you do? Whatdoes the Sierra Club do in
Chicago?
Mila Marshall (02:29):
So Sierra Club is a national organization, and I
actually work for the chapter.And so, my role is as a clean
water advocate, but we havevarious campaigns, ranging from
energy to transportation. My,chapter peers work on everything
from advocacy to lobbying. Weare both c three and c four. We
(02:53):
work with a diversity ofstakeholders, whether those
individuals are homeowners,residents, voters, maybe they
are other nonprofitorganizations, even, unions,
industries such as those, youknow, farmers that are in
agriculture as well as otherbusinesses across the food
supply chain, environmentaljustice, elected officials,
(03:15):
people that are seeking office.
And so our organizationchampions, promote promoting
environmental awareness,literacy, and policies that
protect air, land, and waterwhile also supporting the
economy. So I'm really proud ofthe work that we do
collectively. And as the lead ofthe Clean Water team, Todd, I
(03:36):
focus on everything related towater. Surface water,
groundwater, wastewatertreatment facilities, and even
drinking water. So we havevarious programmatic priorities
such as nutrients, and that'skind of why I'm here today.
Todd Gleason (03:51):
Do you know how active is the Sierra Club in
Washington DC as a lobbyorganization today, and maybe as
a ranking of some sort amongenvironmental groups? Do you
have an idea?
Mila Marshall (04:04):
If I were to say, I think we are quite influential
in DC as a network because everystate has its own chapter. And
so we do have quite a bit ofenergy and presence in DC. As
far as ranking, I don't know ifI could do that. I do know, you
know, we have the NatureConservancy, the Audubon
(04:27):
Society, and some of the otherbig greens, for example. All of
us don't have over I mean, wehave overlapping priorities and
initiatives.
Some are you know, have globalawareness. Others kind of focus
here stateside. So I don't knowif I could rank us, but I will
say, even though we are anorganization of chapters, I am
(04:48):
fond of all of the chapters inthe Great Lakes geography.
Todd Gleason (04:53):
How do you support nutrient loss reduction?
Mila Marshall (04:57):
So first, when I think about answering that
question, there is me as theclean water team, and then there
is our work with the coalitionof, folks that are doing the
nutrient loss implementationplan. And so Sierra Club was at
the beginning of the developmentof this approach to reduce
(05:19):
nutrients within Illinoiswaterways in 2015. And so I have
inherited that work from mypredecessor, Cindy Screwcrude,
and am moving it forward. And soin 2015, this reduction strategy
was implemented to reduce bothphosphorus and nitrates by 45%.
And the milestone marker, thegoal that we were seeking, ten
(05:44):
years ago was reduce nitrates by15% and reduce phosphorus by
25%.
And this was a way of how how dowe organize with wastewater
treatment facilities as well aspromote practices on farmers'
fields to accomplish thesegoals. And so the Clean Water
team has taken the approach ofworking with NARPs, which stands
(06:10):
for Nutrient AssessmentReduction Plans. And this is
specifically with wastewatertreatment facilities. In that,
we identified that wetlands werea tool that could be used for
wastewater treatment facilitiesto accomplish their reductions
(06:30):
while also addressing, someissues on farmers' fields. And
so that's kind of what I've beenworking on, most recently
reviewing Clean Water Actpermits, both relating to
slaughterhouses, sewagetreatment plants, other sources
of nutrient pollution.
And also, in my role, my teamsupports legislation for funding
(06:53):
the work on reducing nutrientpollution, both from agriculture
and working with the NutrientReduction Education Council.
Todd Gleason (07:01):
What else can you tell me about, the intersection
of NARPs and wetlands?
Mila Marshall (07:06):
So, nutrient assessment and reduction plans,
we call them NARPs for short,are plans that were developed
and are being developed bymunicipalities and other
operators of major sewagetreatment plants. A major sewage
treatment plant is one that disdischarges over a million
gallons a day, into surfacewaters. And they are operating
(07:27):
in watersheds that, are eitherimpaired by nutrient pollution
or have the potential for beingimpaired by nutrient pollution.
Wetlands can reduce nutrients,and the continuing loss of
wetlands is a huge problem. Weknow that wetlands can take
nitrogen and phosphorus out ofwater polluted by nutrients
before it even reaches rivers,lakes, or streams.
Todd Gleason (07:50):
How is the Sierra Club supporting these efforts?
Mila Marshall (07:54):
So working in this space, we are first here,
you know, talking about how itis that wetlands can be a tool
for nutrient reduction, which,is catching on. We're also
working closely with wastewatertreatment facilities to help
them understand theopportunities that exist with
constructed wetlands, andwetland mitigation banking and
(08:20):
continuing to to get the wordout on NARPs. NARPs are managed
by the Illinois EnvironmentalProtection Agency, and so all of
those plans that facilities,wastewater treatment facilities
publish are available andaccessible to the public. And so
we, as the Clean Water team,support educating the public. So
(08:45):
we have done a series ofworkshops and seminars, letting
people know, starting from thebeginning of the Clean Water
Act.
Right? Because many of thesethings don't make sense if
people don't understand, like,why are we trying to reduce
nutrients and what is thesignificance of a water body
being impaired? Where do youfind this information? Water
literacy is extremely importantwhen advocating for the resource
(09:08):
and even understanding thescience. And what we do know is
that most people are unfamiliarwith the laws that govern our
surface water and groundwater,the agencies that have the
jurisdiction to enforce and or,provide permits for pollution,
and they are unfamiliar with thepublic comment or, process to
(09:34):
speak up against particularpolicies or, interventions by
polluters or permit holders.
And that's kind of where we'vebeen focusing. Educating our
volunteers, marketing thoseeducational opportunities to get
people familiar with the withthe nutrient loss reduction
(09:55):
strategy plan, helping themunderstand how to engage in some
of these higher levelconversations, that talk about
discharges and water qualitystandards. We are really, really
looking forward to buildinginroads with farmers to
understand their tensions and bebetter stewards of information
(10:18):
flowing from the conservationspace over into agriculture. We
would love to see more of thesewetland projects come into
existence, especially with the,SACET versus EPA ruling. But
that only happens if we talk toeach other and listen to each
other.
So that's really my priority,now is learning, you know, the
(10:38):
farming community, the waywetlands are promoted, the
opportunities that exist forfarmers and seeing if we can
help watersheds become a littlebit healthier, promote nutrient
reduction, as well as promoteinstallation of wetlands for
nutrient mitigation.
Todd Gleason (10:57):
We'll hear more from Mila Marshall when we
continue the closing marketreport here on Illinois Public
Media. It is public radio forthe farming world online on
demand at willag.org. That'swilag.org. There you'll find our
daily agricultural programmingto listen to any time you'd
like. The Closing Market Report,Commodity Week, the Opening
(11:20):
Market report, and the IllinoisNutrient Loss Reduction podcast
from which this program wasdeveloped.
Again, that's at willag.org.There you'll also find a
calendar of events that includesnext week's webinar on Tuesday
the fifteenth, hosted by thePharmDoc team, exploring the
(11:41):
changes that came about for farmpolicy, particularly commodity
programs and crop insurance,along with the one big beautiful
bill act that passed congressand was signed by president
Trump, last week. And thenyou'll also can check out a
series of July hosted by theUniversity of Illinois. Those
(12:04):
are coming up on the sixteenthat the Orr Center in Western
Illinois and the twenty thirdand twenty fourth in Monmouth
and Ewing respectively. Andthere's a Hemp Field Day here on
campus on Friday the twentyfourth.
You'll want to check all ofthose out. You can find that
information on our website inthe calendar at wilag.org.
(12:45):
Because wetlands are the mostefficient way to remove
nutrients from the water supplybefore it goes downstream, how
is it that you talk about it torural and urban audiences in
that particular context, andputting them into place? And and
(13:09):
there are other things thatproducers, landowners can do,
but a wetland in the right space
Mila Marshall (13:17):
Mhmm.
Todd Gleason (13:18):
Really does remove more than all the others, I
believe, combined.
Mila Marshall (13:22):
Oh, I just wanna hit again in the right space.
It's really critical to, placethese wetlands where they are
going to be the most productiveand efficient at removing
nutrients, which is why,understanding the watersheds and
the availability of the space isimportant. And thank you for the
question of how how do wecommunicate this? You know, city
(13:43):
folks are very different fromrural Illinois in terms of
priorities, how people live, andeven the amount of nutrients
that are entering into thesystem from our everyday lives.
We are not extremelyagricultural here in Chicago.
47% of the state's populationlives in one of our 102
(14:04):
counties. And so Cook County isa bit different when thinking
about nutrients because ourfocus is going to be on
discharge from wastewatertreatment facilities, and that's
MWRD, Metropolitan WaterReclamation District. So a lot
of my job with city and CookCounty stakeholders is helping
(14:25):
them build an appreciation forthe water cycle, understanding
how our rivers and streams areconnected, and learning about
how it is the movement of thosenutrients impacts other
communities downstream. And somuch of it is natural history,
(14:47):
Todd. Right?
In the state of Illinois,natural history is not required
or mandated for our students tolearn. And so often, it's
helping people understand howour water moves around and what
it's carrying with it and howhow it harms our economy and how
it harms the people downstream.So I focus more on the
(15:09):
engineering of wastewatertreatment, and the flow of our
recovered waste. In CentralIllinois, it is helping people
understand, the opportunitiesfor being good stewards and
promoting, conversations betweenfarmers and wastewater treatment
(15:29):
facilities. What is the mostchallenging part is if if you
think about it, wastewatertreatment facilities aren't
really good with speaking to thepublic.
Right? If they are talking tothe press, something bad has
happened. And so there's also adisconnect in terms of public
relations, outreach, and whowastewater treatment facilities
(15:52):
speak to, and oftentimes that isnot going to be farmers. And so
these two different groups ofstakeholders, we see an
opportunity to bring peopletogether. Do like to focus on
listening more than anything,because while we're promoting a,
conservation intervention and asolution, If we don't understand
(16:14):
why this won't work or underwhat circumstances this is
unfavorable, then we arepromoting something without the
full knowledge of how farmersfeel that this sort of
intervention is going to help orharm them.
So we do a lot of listening inorder to learn how to translate
and communicate what NARPs andthe nutrient loss reduction
(16:37):
strategy implementation plan canaccomplish for the system as a
whole.
Todd Gleason (16:42):
You are a PhD ecologist by education.
Mila Marshall (16:47):
I am.
Todd Gleason (16:48):
I'm wondering because you list ecology and the
intersection between theenvironment and the economy as
your focus. What is theintersection between wetlands
and the economy?
Mila Marshall (17:05):
So from where I see it, wastewater treatment
facilities are looking for waysto reduce their phosphorus
discharges with the least amountof capital. Wetlands are an
opportunity to work with farmersthat allows for the land to be
monetized and those wetlandswetland credits to be purchased,
(17:28):
adding revenue to, a farmer'sbudget. That's different from
being able to say, okay. This isgonna take $30,000,000, and
we're gonna have to build newinfrastructure that may take,
you know, ten, twenty years toeven get the plans and the
permits, and raise the money to,to build a new plant or
(17:48):
whatever. I love the idea ofworking with farmers and the
wetlands being a way that theycan monetize their land and also
solve a problem with it.
One of my favorite workshopsthat we hosted to help people
wrap their minds around howIllinois water or how nutrient
(18:11):
pollution could cause harm is aevent that we titled the river
with the blues. And so, ofcourse, we were talking about
our beautiful Mississippi River,but we paired the conversation
with a soundtrack withMississippi blues music. And so
(18:32):
people came in and they wereable to hear blues music, and
then we would talk a little bitabout nutrient pollution. And we
played off the played off thewords of the river with the
blues because it is pretty sadthat a a enormous amount of
nutrients are leaving Illinoisand causing harm to our
(18:55):
businesses and industriesdownstream, and even the Gulf Of
Mexico. Right?
And so we use that to helppeople understand that it isn't
just our responsibility to keepour water clean here, but we do
want to put a face to this harm.And so we invited, shrimpers and
people who have seen a declinein their business, or the
(19:21):
increased cost associated withhaving to move around or move
further away from where it isthat they normally fish and
operate to get those, to getshrimps and clams and mussels
and all of those things so thatpeople really could acknowledge.
It's not just the farmers thatare hurt with having low quality
(19:41):
water or our industries that arehurt from having low quality
water, but even downstream thatwe are causing harm. But we
could also be a part of thesolution, when we redirect our
focus and work collectivelywhile understanding all of these
new solutions are going to costmoney. And that's another place
that the Sierra Club Clean Waterteam is really interested in, is
(20:04):
understanding what financialtools, are available both for
wastewater treatment facilitiesas well as farmers, what types
of policy tools need to becreated to generate money or
capital that these types ofinterventions, such as
constructed wetlands, can evenbe piloted with the purpose of
(20:25):
nutrient credits.
So it's for me, the quality ofour water is directly connected
to the health of our economy.And I would love to see both
farmers and dischargers, atwastewater treatment facilities
find a way forward, for, youknow, clean water for all.
Todd Gleason (20:49):
What advice might you have for a farmer, a
landowner, a citizen who simplyhas listened to this
conversation and thought tothemselves, hey. I'd like to
learn more about the SierraClub, or maybe I want to get
involved in the Sierra Club. Howdo they do it?
Mila Marshall (21:04):
You can find us online at www.sierraclub.org.
Again, we are the Illinoischapter, and you can follow us
on our social media. We do haveour working in local watersheds
call. It's open to the public,absolutely free. You can learn
what we are doing across thestate, not just with nutrients,
(21:26):
but all things related to water,including our monitoring and
sampling program with our watersentinels.
If perhaps you are interested inlearning more about the Illinois
nutrient loss reductionstrategy, then you can pop over
to epa.illinois.gov, or you canjust Google Illinois NLRS. And
(21:48):
there are really great resourcesfor the public written in very
plain English. I would suggestlooking at the 2023 biennial
report, just so that you canunderstand the work that has
happened, the success storiesfrom farmers and wastewater
treatment facilities, what we'veaccomplished. And in the event
(22:10):
that you are interested inlearning how to connect with
your local elected official orwastewater treatment facilities
on nutrient related issues, youare more than welcome to reach
out directly to me to learn ourresources to help you get up to
speed, strengthen yourvocabulary, familiarize yourself
with the pieces of legislationand or ordinances around water
(22:34):
and nutrients in your county orin your area. And you can email
me at Mila,mila.marshall@sierraclub.org.
Todd Gleason (22:43):
Thank you very much, Mila.
Mila Marshall (22:44):
Thank you, Todd.
Todd Gleason (22:45):
Mila Marshall is based in Chicago, a member of
the Sierra Club, and joined uson this edition of the closing
market report that came to youfrom Illinois Public Medium.
Find us online at willag.org.Our program was produced with
the help of Nicole Habberbackand Rachel Curry. I'm University
(23:05):
of Illinois Extension's ToddGleason.
I'm University of Illinois Extension's Todd
(00:02):
Gleason out of the office thisweek. Here's an update of what's
happening from Extension acrossthe state next week. Starting on
the fifteenth, there is awebinar hosted by the PharmDoc
team. I'll be the emcee for thatevent from noon to one that's on
Tuesday related to the one bigbeautiful bill and the farm
(00:23):
policy changes it has enactedrelated to commodity programs
and crop insurance. Farmers,landowners, and bankers all need
to be in attendance.
Please register now. You can dothat on our website at
wilag.org, willag.0rg. In thecalendar of events on Tuesday,
(00:45):
July. There'll be some otherthings you can register for as
well. On the 16 next week, theOre Agricultural Research and
Demonstration Center field daywill take place.
The agronomist will be on handin Bayliss. That's in Western
Illinois to the west ofJacksonville. The Monmouth Field
(01:05):
Day is the following week onJuly. They'll follow that up
with the July 24 EwingDemonstration Center Field Day
and then wrap things up here oncampus with the Hemp Research
Open House. That one is on Julyand will require registration.
You can find all thatinformation on the PharmDoc
(01:26):
Daily website or willag.org. Nowup next we'll learn about
constructed wetlands foradvocacy. Todd Gleason services
are made available to WILL byUniversity of Illinois
Extension. Today we'll talk withMila Marshall of the Sierra
(01:56):
Club's Illinois chapter. She'llhighlight the group's work to
reduce nutrient pollution inIllinois through education,
advocacy, and the promotion ofconstructed wetlands.
Hello, Mila. Thanks for beingwith us. Where are you from
actually?
Mila Marshall (02:13):
So, Todd, I'm actually from the city of
Chicago, born and raised, but Ido work across the state in my
role at Sierra Club IllinoisChapter. And thank you so much
for having me here.
Todd Gleason (02:22):
Oh, it it's fantastic to have you on hand
with us. What do you do? Whatdoes the Sierra Club do in
Chicago?
Mila Marshall (02:29):
So Sierra Club is a national organization, and I
actually work for the chapter.And so, my role is as a clean
water advocate, but we havevarious campaigns, ranging from
energy to transportation. My,chapter peers work on everything
from advocacy to lobbying. Weare both c three and c four. We
(02:53):
work with a diversity ofstakeholders, whether those
individuals are homeowners,residents, voters, maybe they
are other nonprofitorganizations, even, unions,
industries such as those, youknow, farmers that are in
agriculture as well as otherbusinesses across the food
supply chain, environmentaljustice, elected officials,
(03:15):
people that are seeking office.
And so our organizationchampions, promote promoting
environmental awareness,literacy, and policies that
protect air, land, and waterwhile also supporting the
economy. So I'm really proud ofthe work that we do
collectively. And as the lead ofthe Clean Water team, Todd, I
(03:36):
focus on everything related towater. Surface water,
groundwater, wastewatertreatment facilities, and even
drinking water. So we havevarious programmatic priorities
such as nutrients, and that'skind of why I'm here today.
Todd Gleason (03:51):
Do you know how active is the Sierra Club in
Washington DC as a lobbyorganization today, and maybe as
a ranking of some sort amongenvironmental groups? Do you
have an idea?
Mila Marshall (04:04):
If I were to say, I think we are quite influential
in DC as a network because everystate has its own chapter. And
so we do have quite a bit ofenergy and presence in DC. As
far as ranking, I don't know ifI could do that. I do know, you
know, we have the NatureConservancy, the Audubon
(04:27):
Society, and some of the otherbig greens, for example. All of
us don't have over I mean, wehave overlapping priorities and
initiatives.
Some are you know, have globalawareness. Others kind of focus
here stateside. So I don't knowif I could rank us, but I will
say, even though we are anorganization of chapters, I am
(04:48):
fond of all of the chapters inthe Great Lakes geography.
Todd Gleason (04:53):
How do you support nutrient loss reduction?
Mila Marshall (04:57):
So first, when I think about answering that
question, there is me as theclean water team, and then there
is our work with the coalitionof, folks that are doing the
nutrient loss implementationplan. And so Sierra Club was at
the beginning of the developmentof this approach to reduce
(05:19):
nutrients within Illinoiswaterways in 2015. And so I have
inherited that work from mypredecessor, Cindy Screwcrude,
and am moving it forward. And soin 2015, this reduction strategy
was implemented to reduce bothphosphorus and nitrates by 45%.
And the milestone marker, thegoal that we were seeking, ten
(05:44):
years ago was reduce nitrates by15% and reduce phosphorus by
25%.
And this was a way of how how dowe organize with wastewater
treatment facilities as well aspromote practices on farmers'
fields to accomplish thesegoals. And so the Clean Water
team has taken the approach ofworking with NARPs, which stands
(06:10):
for Nutrient AssessmentReduction Plans. And this is
specifically with wastewatertreatment facilities. In that,
we identified that wetlands werea tool that could be used for
wastewater treatment facilitiesto accomplish their reductions
(06:30):
while also addressing, someissues on farmers' fields. And
so that's kind of what I've beenworking on, most recently
reviewing Clean Water Actpermits, both relating to
slaughterhouses, sewagetreatment plants, other sources
of nutrient pollution.
And also, in my role, my teamsupports legislation for funding
(06:53):
the work on reducing nutrientpollution, both from agriculture
and working with the NutrientReduction Education Council.
Todd Gleason (07:01):
What else can you tell me about, the intersection
of NARPs and wetlands?
Mila Marshall (07:06):
So, nutrient assessment and reduction plans,
we call them NARPs for short,are plans that were developed
and are being developed bymunicipalities and other
operators of major sewagetreatment plants. A major sewage
treatment plant is one that disdischarges over a million
gallons a day, into surfacewaters. And they are operating
(07:27):
in watersheds that, are eitherimpaired by nutrient pollution
or have the potential for beingimpaired by nutrient pollution.
Wetlands can reduce nutrients,and the continuing loss of
wetlands is a huge problem. Weknow that wetlands can take
nitrogen and phosphorus out ofwater polluted by nutrients
before it even reaches rivers,lakes, or streams.
Todd Gleason (07:50):
How is the Sierra Club supporting these efforts?
Mila Marshall (07:54):
So working in this space, we are first here,
you know, talking about how itis that wetlands can be a tool
for nutrient reduction, which,is catching on. We're also
working closely with wastewatertreatment facilities to help
them understand theopportunities that exist with
constructed wetlands, andwetland mitigation banking and
(08:20):
continuing to to get the wordout on NARPs. NARPs are managed
by the Illinois EnvironmentalProtection Agency, and so all of
those plans that facilities,wastewater treatment facilities
publish are available andaccessible to the public. And so
we, as the Clean Water team,support educating the public. So
(08:45):
we have done a series ofworkshops and seminars, letting
people know, starting from thebeginning of the Clean Water
Act.
Right? Because many of thesethings don't make sense if
people don't understand, like,why are we trying to reduce
nutrients and what is thesignificance of a water body
being impaired? Where do youfind this information? Water
literacy is extremely importantwhen advocating for the resource
(09:08):
and even understanding thescience. And what we do know is
that most people are unfamiliarwith the laws that govern our
surface water and groundwater,the agencies that have the
jurisdiction to enforce and or,provide permits for pollution,
and they are unfamiliar with thepublic comment or, process to
(09:34):
speak up against particularpolicies or, interventions by
polluters or permit holders.
And that's kind of where we'vebeen focusing. Educating our
volunteers, marketing thoseeducational opportunities to get
people familiar with the withthe nutrient loss reduction
(09:55):
strategy plan, helping themunderstand how to engage in some
of these higher levelconversations, that talk about
discharges and water qualitystandards. We are really, really
looking forward to buildinginroads with farmers to
understand their tensions and bebetter stewards of information
(10:18):
flowing from the conservationspace over into agriculture. We
would love to see more of thesewetland projects come into
existence, especially with the,SACET versus EPA ruling. But
that only happens if we talk toeach other and listen to each
other.
So that's really my priority,now is learning, you know, the
(10:38):
farming community, the waywetlands are promoted, the
opportunities that exist forfarmers and seeing if we can
help watersheds become a littlebit healthier, promote nutrient
reduction, as well as promoteinstallation of wetlands for
nutrient mitigation.
Todd Gleason (10:57):
We'll hear more from Mila Marshall when we
continue the closing marketreport here on Illinois Public
Media. It is public radio forthe farming world online on
demand at willag.org. That'swilag.org. There you'll find our
daily agricultural programmingto listen to any time you'd
like. The Closing Market Report,Commodity Week, the Opening
(11:20):
Market report, and the IllinoisNutrient Loss Reduction podcast
from which this program wasdeveloped.
Again, that's at willag.org.There you'll also find a
calendar of events that includesnext week's webinar on Tuesday
the fifteenth, hosted by thePharmDoc team, exploring the
(11:41):
changes that came about for farmpolicy, particularly commodity
programs and crop insurance,along with the one big beautiful
bill act that passed congressand was signed by president
Trump, last week. And thenyou'll also can check out a
series of July hosted by theUniversity of Illinois. Those
(12:04):
are coming up on the sixteenthat the Orr Center in Western
Illinois and the twenty thirdand twenty fourth in Monmouth
and Ewing respectively. Andthere's a Hemp Field Day here on
campus on Friday the twentyfourth.
You'll want to check all ofthose out. You can find that
information on our website inthe calendar at wilag.org.
(12:45):
Because wetlands are the mostefficient way to remove
nutrients from the water supplybefore it goes downstream, how
is it that you talk about it torural and urban audiences in
that particular context, andputting them into place? And and
(13:09):
there are other things thatproducers, landowners can do,
but a wetland in the right space
Mila Marshall (13:17):
Mhmm.
Todd Gleason (13:18):
Really does remove more than all the others, I
believe, combined.
Mila Marshall (13:22):
Oh, I just wanna hit again in the right space.
It's really critical to, placethese wetlands where they are
going to be the most productiveand efficient at removing
nutrients, which is why,understanding the watersheds and
the availability of the space isimportant. And thank you for the
question of how how do wecommunicate this? You know, city
(13:43):
folks are very different fromrural Illinois in terms of
priorities, how people live, andeven the amount of nutrients
that are entering into thesystem from our everyday lives.
We are not extremelyagricultural here in Chicago.
47% of the state's populationlives in one of our 102
(14:04):
counties. And so Cook County isa bit different when thinking
about nutrients because ourfocus is going to be on
discharge from wastewatertreatment facilities, and that's
MWRD, Metropolitan WaterReclamation District. So a lot
of my job with city and CookCounty stakeholders is helping
(14:25):
them build an appreciation forthe water cycle, understanding
how our rivers and streams areconnected, and learning about
how it is the movement of thosenutrients impacts other
communities downstream. And somuch of it is natural history,
(14:47):
Todd. Right?
In the state of Illinois,natural history is not required
or mandated for our students tolearn. And so often, it's
helping people understand howour water moves around and what
it's carrying with it and howhow it harms our economy and how
it harms the people downstream.So I focus more on the
(15:09):
engineering of wastewatertreatment, and the flow of our
recovered waste. In CentralIllinois, it is helping people
understand, the opportunitiesfor being good stewards and
promoting, conversations betweenfarmers and wastewater treatment
(15:29):
facilities. What is the mostchallenging part is if if you
think about it, wastewatertreatment facilities aren't
really good with speaking to thepublic.
Right? If they are talking tothe press, something bad has
happened. And so there's also adisconnect in terms of public
relations, outreach, and whowastewater treatment facilities
(15:52):
speak to, and oftentimes that isnot going to be farmers. And so
these two different groups ofstakeholders, we see an
opportunity to bring peopletogether. Do like to focus on
listening more than anything,because while we're promoting a,
conservation intervention and asolution, If we don't understand
(16:14):
why this won't work or underwhat circumstances this is
unfavorable, then we arepromoting something without the
full knowledge of how farmersfeel that this sort of
intervention is going to help orharm them.
So we do a lot of listening inorder to learn how to translate
and communicate what NARPs andthe nutrient loss reduction
(16:37):
strategy implementation plan canaccomplish for the system as a
whole.
Todd Gleason (16:42):
You are a PhD ecologist by education.
Mila Marshall (16:47):
I am.
Todd Gleason (16:48):
I'm wondering because you list ecology and the
intersection between theenvironment and the economy as
your focus. What is theintersection between wetlands
and the economy?
Mila Marshall (17:05):
So from where I see it, wastewater treatment
facilities are looking for waysto reduce their phosphorus
discharges with the least amountof capital. Wetlands are an
opportunity to work with farmersthat allows for the land to be
monetized and those wetlandswetland credits to be purchased,
(17:28):
adding revenue to, a farmer'sbudget. That's different from
being able to say, okay. This isgonna take $30,000,000, and
we're gonna have to build newinfrastructure that may take,
you know, ten, twenty years toeven get the plans and the
permits, and raise the money to,to build a new plant or
(17:48):
whatever. I love the idea ofworking with farmers and the
wetlands being a way that theycan monetize their land and also
solve a problem with it.
One of my favorite workshopsthat we hosted to help people
wrap their minds around howIllinois water or how nutrient
(18:11):
pollution could cause harm is aevent that we titled the river
with the blues. And so, ofcourse, we were talking about
our beautiful Mississippi River,but we paired the conversation
with a soundtrack withMississippi blues music. And so
(18:32):
people came in and they wereable to hear blues music, and
then we would talk a little bitabout nutrient pollution. And we
played off the played off thewords of the river with the
blues because it is pretty sadthat a a enormous amount of
nutrients are leaving Illinoisand causing harm to our
(18:55):
businesses and industriesdownstream, and even the Gulf Of
Mexico. Right?
And so we use that to helppeople understand that it isn't
just our responsibility to keepour water clean here, but we do
want to put a face to this harm.And so we invited, shrimpers and
people who have seen a declinein their business, or the
(19:21):
increased cost associated withhaving to move around or move
further away from where it isthat they normally fish and
operate to get those, to getshrimps and clams and mussels
and all of those things so thatpeople really could acknowledge.
It's not just the farmers thatare hurt with having low quality
(19:41):
water or our industries that arehurt from having low quality
water, but even downstream thatwe are causing harm. But we
could also be a part of thesolution, when we redirect our
focus and work collectivelywhile understanding all of these
new solutions are going to costmoney. And that's another place
that the Sierra Club Clean Waterteam is really interested in, is
(20:04):
understanding what financialtools, are available both for
wastewater treatment facilitiesas well as farmers, what types
of policy tools need to becreated to generate money or
capital that these types ofinterventions, such as
constructed wetlands, can evenbe piloted with the purpose of
(20:25):
nutrient credits.
So it's for me, the quality ofour water is directly connected
to the health of our economy.And I would love to see both
farmers and dischargers, atwastewater treatment facilities
find a way forward, for, youknow, clean water for all.
Todd Gleason (20:49):
What advice might you have for a farmer, a
landowner, a citizen who simplyhas listened to this
conversation and thought tothemselves, hey. I'd like to
learn more about the SierraClub, or maybe I want to get
involved in the Sierra Club. Howdo they do it?
Mila Marshall (21:04):
You can find us online at www.sierraclub.org.
Again, we are the Illinoischapter, and you can follow us
on our social media. We do haveour working in local watersheds
call. It's open to the public,absolutely free. You can learn
what we are doing across thestate, not just with nutrients,
(21:26):
but all things related to water,including our monitoring and
sampling program with our watersentinels.
If perhaps you are interested inlearning more about the Illinois
nutrient loss reductionstrategy, then you can pop over
to epa.illinois.gov, or you canjust Google Illinois NLRS. And
(21:48):
there are really great resourcesfor the public written in very
plain English. I would suggestlooking at the 2023 biennial
report, just so that you canunderstand the work that has
happened, the success storiesfrom farmers and wastewater
treatment facilities, what we'veaccomplished. And in the event
(22:10):
that you are interested inlearning how to connect with
your local elected official orwastewater treatment facilities
on nutrient related issues, youare more than welcome to reach
out directly to me to learn ourresources to help you get up to
speed, strengthen yourvocabulary, familiarize yourself
with the pieces of legislationand or ordinances around water
(22:34):
and nutrients in your county orin your area. And you can email
me at Mila,mila.marshall@sierraclub.org.
Todd Gleason (22:43):
Thank you very much, Mila.
Mila Marshall (22:44):
Thank you, Todd.
Todd Gleason (22:45):
Mila Marshall is based in Chicago, a member of
the Sierra Club, and joined uson this edition of the closing
market report that came to youfrom Illinois Public Medium.
Find us online at willag.org.Our program was produced with
the help of Nicole Habberbackand Rachel Curry. I'm University
(23:05):
of Illinois Extension's ToddGleason.
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