The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is in hot water because of the way it's been handling federal clean water regulations.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is in hot water because of the way it's been handling federal clean water regulations.

After an investigation of more than two years, the U.S. EPA found Illinois to be "in serious noncompliance" with requirements of the Federal Clean Water Act.

The Illinois EPA said it is still reviewing the federal report and is working with the federal EPA to improve the state's programs.

The investigation stems from the state EPA's failure to enforce clean-water regulations against large-scale industrial livestock operations, said Danielle Diamond, a DeKalb attorney and co-founder of Illinois Citizens for Clean Air & Water, the environmental group that petitioned the EPA to take action.

"Only 40 permits have been issued in Illinois since the 1970s despite the fact that there are 3,500 large-scale livestock operations in the state," she said.

Under the clean water act, the EPA is supposed to issue a permit before any large-scale operations can do business. The citizens group had urged the U.S. EPA to strip Illinois of its authority to issue pollution control permits since it had failed to regulate the discharge of waste at large-scale operations.

"The lack of regulation means even when citizens complain about an environmental problem, there's no response from the (state) agency," said Diamond.

Within the EPA's Region Five, made up of Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and Minnesota, Illinois was the weakest link when it came to monitoring livestock farms, she said.

"Illinois has become a haven for polluters because regulations are so lax," said Diamond.

Steve Tarter can be reached at 686-3260 or starter@pjstar.com.