Wisconsin

Summer 2011 Issues Update:

* A state budget that cuts off resources for implementing the rules to protect their lakes.

* A two-year delay before enforcing phosphorus standards that help prevent algae blooms.

* Power plant emissions that result in advisories against fish consumption

* Rapid increase in CAFO’s (concentrated animal feeding operations) and the resultant runoff pollution.

* The DNR will be surveying over 200 lakes with boat landings for evidence of new or never-reported problems with zebra mussels, Eurasian water milfoil, and other aquatic invasive species.

* Water quality monitoring at 118 public Great Lakes Wisconsin beaches are expected to demonstrate that recent pollution-reduction steps have been working.

* A new law requires the registration and annual reporting of water use to enable people to understand how much water is being withdrawn.  Included is anyone with a water supply system that can withdraw 100,000 gallons per day or 70 gallons per minute.

* LWVWisconsin adopted the 2005 LWVMI position on the Great Lakes Ecosystem at their 2011 state convention.

*  Minnesota DNR reports DNA from carp was found in 22 of 50 samples taken from the St. Croix River that borders our state.  These deadly carp keep on getting closer to doing irreparable damage in our waterways.

*  The DNR announced a restructuring plan that officials say will make the agency more responsive to the public but won’t lead to an easing of environmental regulation.  They will also take responsibility for facility and vehicle management, and improve customer service.  Their goals include reducing air and water permit waiting times by 5% while still maintaining standards, making environmental permits more understandable and timely through creation of a new Office of Business Support and Sustainability, use the internet more in these processes, and reduce costs by 2.5%  for basic operations, and to organize into a line authority organization to assure DNR decisions are consistent state-wide.

*  The DNR will scrutinize Waukesha’s request for Lake Michigan water.

*  Cameron Davis from the EPA announced 8 new projects for the Milwaukee area total nearly $4 million.

*  PCB cleanup on the Milwaukee River will begin at the end of August, and should be complete by the end of November.

*  The killing of aquatic life by power plants’ intake structures is a problem for all of the Great Lakes.  Lake Michigan has 19, the largest number of any state (33 coal, 6 nuclear, and the rest are natural gas or oil).  In Wisconsin, the Oak Creek plant is estimated to impinge well over 2 million fish (57+ tons) per year, not counting larvae and fish eggs.

*  Wisconsin shoreland rules have been revised and updated to better protect lakes and rivers while allowing property owners more flexibility on their land.  For more information, contact Shoreland Program Manager, Bureau of Watershed Management, 608-261-6430.

*  Last, good news:  The EPA is demanding that the Wisconsin DNR correct patterns of deficiencies in meeting federal regulations in its water pollution permitting program!  Betsy Lawson, Midwest Environmental Advocate’s attorney, says this:  “It clearly, and I believe correctly, sends a message that the Clean Water Act passed in 1972 to protect public health and access to clean water for future generations, may not be weakened to help irresponsible polluters save money at the expense of public health.  If Wisconsin can’t protect its citizens through adequate pollution permits, then the EPA will.  A state that lacks adequate authority to run its programs can’t efficiently serve the needs of business or investors.”

 

Water-related issue update, Spring 2011:

The City of Waukesha has submitted an application for Lake Michigan water [new withdrawals are governed  by the Great Lakes Compact].  Wastewater returning as sewage to Lake Michigan, the expense of infrastructure for water treatments, whether to use Underwood Creek or Menomonee River route, radium in the well water currently used for drinking, and flooding are some of the pieces of the puzzle that face the Wisconsin DNR and Waukesha as they develop an environmental impact statement to present to the public and the Great Lakes Compact.

Other issues facing Wisconsin are connected to the changing political landscape, with the state budget set to:

• Eliminate the recycling mandate and state grants that fund local recycling programs
• Reduce standards for phosphorus
• Eliminate municipal storm water standards that regulate pollutants running off streets, parking lots, etc.
• Jeopardize the Stewardship program purchases
• Soil erosion control will move away from the DNR and to the new Dept. of Safety and Professional Services.
• Eliminate the Office of Energy Independence
• Eliminate the funds for the Purchase of Agricultural Conversion Easements (PACE) Program which helped preserve farmland
• Cuts public transit funding 10%
• Eliminates several energy technology loan & incentives programs
• Cuts DNR funding by 16%
• Wetland issues in business sites will be addressed by the Department of Commerce, not the DNR
• Good News:  Provides an extra $20 million for pollution runoff programs related to agriculture and $5 million to clean up contaminated sediment in the Great Lakes & tributaries

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Report on Lake Michigan Forum on Biodiversity in Lake Michigan

The “Lake Michigan Forum on Biodiversity in Lake Michigan and the Sheboygan River Clean Up” was held in Sheboygan, WI, April 13, 2011, to brief the community on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Wisconsin DNR’s progress of addressing these issues.  The Sheboygan River and Harbor site and Wisconsin Public Service Corporation Campmarina site were contaminated as a result of industrial activities along the river.

Doug Pearsall, Senior Conservation Scientist at The Nature Conservancy, gave an overview of biodiversity in Lake Michigan. He used charts of Lake Michigan to demonstrate the terrestrial biodiversity of the islands, coastal, and aerial migrants. Lake Michigan is a corridor for birds, bats, and butterfly migration. Islands in Northern Lake Michigan provide an important habitat for bird nesting. It is necessary to use strategic conservation planning, forest ecology, and wetland ecology to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people.

John Perreone, Environmental Protection Agency, made a broad presentation that covered the Great Lakes Areas of Concerns, history of the Legacy Act, Great Lakes Restoration, and Action Plan.  He also presented slides of Kinnickinnic River, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Ruddiman Creek and Pond, Michigan, and the Grand Calumet River, Hammond, Indiana, that showed before and after views of the clean up and rebuilding of areas.

Kevin O’Donnell, EPA, gave us an overview of the Sheboygan River’s Areas of Concern and the 14 BUI (beneficial use impairment) sites, and the Super Fund and EPA cleanup efforts by both governmental and private stakeholders.

Stacy Hron, Wisconsin DNR, coordinator of the Sheboygan River Areas of Concerns, gave a detailed description of the various restorations completed projects and future projects on the Sheboygan River.  She pointed out that there still needs work on issues such as an evaluation of waterfowl, which has not been done since 1987, to determine if they can be safely consumed. Also needed are evaluations of plankton and benthes in bottom of riverbeds, and fish with tumors.

The DNR coordinator for the Fox River restoration project stated that the Fox River has been restored. The walleyes have shown a decrease of 73% PCB’s and the sediment in river is 94% less. It did take 5 years to complete but certainly was worth the effort.

LMLWV members attending this meeting were Judy Johnston, Art and Marge Palleon, and Helga Guiquerre.