Stream Pollution Abated Jointly by
the City of Cedar Rapids and
Its Industries
C.  D.   MULLINEX
Partner,
Howard R. Green Co., Consulting Engineers
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
The City of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is celebrating its twentieth anniversary as being the first city in Iowa to undertake sewage treatment
on an all inclusive basis and pioneering in joint treatment with its
industries. It was the first municipality of size to recognize and accept
both domestic and industrial waste problems at the outset of a statewide stream pollution abatement program. This twentieth anniversary
also celebrates the first jointly financed, constructed and operated sewage
treatment plant by a municipality and packing company. That pioneering effort demonstrated that packing house waste combined with
domestic waste were amenable to treatment without any deleterious
effect on the treatment processes, and further, that a municipality and
its industries can jointly solve waste treatment problems where (1)
there is a sincere desire on the part of all concerned to solve the problem,
(2) integrity and respect for the interest of others is maintained, and
(3) a sound and defendable basis for the equitable allocation of costs
is followed. This does not mean that joint treatment would be to the
best interests of the municipality and industry in all cases, but it does
mean that a local stream pollution problem may be approached and
evaluated on a joint basis to develop a plan in the best interests of all
parties concerned. It has been particularly gratifying to have contributed initially to a joint approach to the municipal and industrial waste
problem by negotiating what is believed to be the first contract between
a municipality and its major industry providing for an equitable division of all construction and operating costs. This type of contract has
proven to be acceptable and desirable in many subsequent cases.
In January, 1951, the Iowa State Department of Health filed a
report with the City of Cedar Rapids covering stream pollution conditions in the Cedar River allegedly caused by wastes from the Cedar
Rapids area. The report stated in substance that a pollution condition
existed in and immediately below the city caused by the discharge of
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