Table of Contents
Run-off Rules Misdirected
The $40 Million Fox River Deal
Wetlands Rules to Be Weakened
EPA To Revise Impaired Waters Rule
Cyanide and Mining in Wisconsin
Billboard Controls
Hearings and Meetings
Proposed new rules to govern land run-off pollution in Wisconsin
will be ineffective and misuse tax dollars, unless improved.
The legislature and Governor in their wisdom required the DNR
(Dept. of Natural Resources) and DATCP (Dept. of Agriculture Trade
and
Consumer Protection) to jointly design a badly needed new non-point
pollution control program.
The DNR wrote the water quality protection standards last year,
which were approved by the legislature, and DATCP is now proposing
the
rules to implement those standards.
Unfortunately, DATCP opposed the DNR rules and now seems determined
to undercut the standards by making the implementation prohibitively
expensive, poorly enforced and misdirected.
Clean Water Action Council is joining with numerous groups around
Wisconsin to call attention to this issue, with the following consensus
statement:
Runoff is a Serious Water Quality Problem
Polluted runoff from agriculture is one of Wisconsin's most serious
water quality problems. Livestock wastes, toxic pesticides,
algae-stimulating fertilizers and other pollutants continue to contaminate
the waters we fish and swim in and our sources of drinking water.
Controlling polluted runoff is one of the most important steps
Wisconsin must take to ensure the recovery and protection of our lakes,
rivers, wetlands and groundwater.
Recognizing that, the state legislature enacted 1997 Act 27 to
create a comprehensive program to protect Wisconsin's precious lakes,
rivers and streams from polluted runoff through the establishment and
enforcement of strict water quality standards.
We support the efforts of DNR and DATCP to address polluted runoff from
agricultural lands and livestock facilities and we continue to support
strong ATCP 50 rules. However, ATCP 50, as currently proposed, contains
gaping loopholes that undermine the ability of the rules to be adequately
enforced, among other problems. These loopholes must be addressed
before
the proposed rules are deemed to have met the requirements of the law.
Funding
Given the scope of the polluted runoff problem, technical and
financial assistance must be provided to farmers. We support
providing
state, federal and county dollars to farmers to install and implement
best
management practices required in the proposed rules. Because
the dollars
earmarked for runoff controls are very limited, DNR and DATCP must
allocate
resources efficiently in order to maximize their impact. It's
necessary
for the state to maximize scarce dollars to clean up more miles of
rivers
and more acres of lakes. In that spirit, while we support cost
share
programs for farmers, we ask that DATCP provide money in a responsible
manner that helps a maximum number of farmers to be good land stewards.
Unfortunately, the current proposal fails to ensure that scarce cost-share
resources are allocated responsibly.
Specifically, we support:
- Providing up to 70% of the cost of implementing practices to curb runoff
- Requiring landowners to implement practices if they are offered 70%
- Prioritizing the implementation of conservation practices in areas where
- Prioritizing outstanding and exceptional waterways that are threatened
- Crediting the farmers' in-kind contributions of labor and equipment
- Providing additional funding, above 70%, for farmers who qualify for
- Providing money for one crop rotation cycle for nutrient management
- Requiring farmers to implement no-cost or low-cost practices without
pollution such as nutrient management plans, vegetative buffers and
conservation tillage. However, we do not support funding the ongoing
maintenance of these practices.
funding for the practices. As ATCP 50 is written, farmers are only required
to implement practices if they receive cost share money. This extremely
important distinction changes the program from a mandatory program to a
voluntary program. State law requires the implementation of this program -
it is not voluntary.
water quality is most degraded by agriculture runoff. We support
provisions in ATCP 50 that require state and county dollars to be spent
first on farms that are directly polluting waterways.
by runoff pollution.
toward the total cost of installing the project.
hardship money. However, it is important that the formula to determine who
is eligible for hardship does not create a loophole whereby all farmers can
claim and receive hardship status. In the current version of ATCP 50
almost any farmer could be eligible for this additional funding.
plans, rather than providing funding for 10 years as currently written in
ATCP 50.
state assistance funding.
It is imperative that the proposed rules to curb runoff are
adequately enforced. Both county and state DNR officials need
to be
monitoring farms to ensure compliance with these rules. We need
to ensure
that our tax dollars are being used responsibly and will result in
cleaner
lakes, rivers and drinking water for Wisconsinites. If we are
going to
give tax dollars to farmers to install conservation practices, we need
to
know that those farmers are following the law.
Phosphorous
When it comes to pollution of waterbodies in Wisconsin, phosphorous
is the primary nutrient of concern. Control of phosphorous entry into
waterways is perhaps the central component of controlling eutrophication
and associated waterbody degradation. Consequently, failure
to address
phosphorous applications to farmland ensures that the proposed rules
will
fall far short of what is necessary to restore and protect water resources.
The federal government, through the rewrite of NRCS 590, has
acknowledged that sound farmland management is based on phosphorous
levels
in the soil rather than nitrogen. Limiting applications of manure
and
other fertilizers to farmland on the basis of nitrogen allows excessive
levels of phosphorous to be applied to those lands.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) 590 is currently
being rewritten to reflect phosphorous based standards for manure
management. It's important that ATCP 50 follow the most up-to-date,
NRCS
standards which are based on the ecological reality of phosphorous
based
pollution in Wisconsin waterways.
Action is Long Overdue
In 1988, the Remedial Action Plan committees for the clean-up of
the Lower Fox River and Green Bay published their report identifying
phosphorus and non-point run-off pollution as a critically important
problem which must be addressed.
We've been frustrated by years of talk and haggling over this issue
with very poor results.
This new proposal from DATCP is a continuation of a long-standing
lack of leadership in Madison.
What You Can Do
Please write your comment letter today and fight for clean water!
Write to:
Don Houtman
Land & Water Resources Bureau
DATCP
2811 Agriculture Drive
P.O. Box 8911
Madison, WI 53708-8911
E-mail comments to:
don.houtman@datcp.state.wi.us
For a copy of the proposal, call: 608-224-4620
To view or print from online:
website:
http://datcp.state.wi.us
then click on "Regulations"
then on "Proposed Rules"
The $40 Million Fox River Deal
Please Write!
The Intergovernmental Partnership (which is now uniformly
Republican at both the state DNR and federal EPA level) has announced
a
surprise $40 million proposed "global settlement" with Appleton Paper
and
NCR Corporation, which they call a "down payment" on the companies'
long
term liabilities. In exchange, they will not be sued for
more for 4 years
and the NRDA will not be finalized during that time.
Our specific objections:
Just One Hotspot Cleaned
If the money is evenly split (which isn't clear) $20 million would
be used to start cleanup. The other $20 million would start
NRDA restoration and compensation.
It cost between $15 and $20 million to demonstrate a minimal
clean-up (with no detoxification) at just one sediment PCB hotspot,
the
56/57 site by the Fort James (now Georgia Pacific) mill in Green Bay.
This means that in a four-year period, Appleton Paper/NCR would
clean up only ONE equivalent sized hotspot,out of more than 85 sites
which
need cleanup. This is NOT the rapid cleanup schedule needed to
protect
public health and wildlife.
Far Too Little Money
Appleton Paper and NCR Corp. are responsible for up to 70% of the PCB
contamination. (They created the PCB-coated paper, the others recycled
it.) The sediment cleanup has been calculated by DNR to cost $400 to $700
million, and the NRDA compensation and restoration would cost an additional
$177 to $333 million, according to the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service. The combined total would be $577 to $1,033
million.
The Appleton/NCR share of this (at 70%) could be $403.9 to $723.10
million.
This means the $40 million is less than 10% of even the low range
of what the final settlement should be for these two major polluters.
Delay and Lost Momentum
The NRDA has been in development for 8 years already, after 5 years
of start-up delays before that (due to state obstructionism). The
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service held 5 public hearings last November and
December where hundreds of people attended to show
support for major compensation, though the vast majority of testifiers
felt
the proposed compensation dollars were too low. It is unacceptable
to
stop the NRDA process cold and make us wait 4 more years for final
resolution. This will dissipate momentum which has built for
action.
Legal Time Lag
In 4 years, Appleton/NCR could refuse to pay the rest, which means
the governments could be forced to sue. But the legal process will
be started 4 years late, making the bulk of the settlement come that much
later.
Aging Statistics
In 4 years, will the economic, biological and sediment models still
be considered current enough to stand up in court, or will Appleton/NCR
argue that the data is too old and we need new studies, as they are already
starting to claim?
Pre-emptive Action
The public was expecting to be asked to review the final comprehensive
sediment cleanup plan in about a month (the Remedial Investigation Feasibility
Study -- several inches thick). We had been promised extensive
public involvement with plenty of background
information about final total costs and remedial options. Instead,
this
$40 million deal has been announced out of the blue, which takes the
major
two polluters out of the picture for 4 years. The public
is expected to
submit written comments about the $40 million deal within 30 days,
BEFORE
getting a chance to review the final comprehensive plan.
It's impossible
to make informed comments under these circumstances.
Broken Promise
This $40 million deal is a radical policy shift under the Bush Administration.
We were promised the federal government, (and U.S. Fish & Wildlife
in particular) would not (and legally could not) sign any settlements until
after the Record of Decision is complete on the
comprehensive Fox River cleanup plan sometime this winter or early
next
year. This would have allowed the public to review the
agreement in the
context of the larger comprehensive plan details.
Unknown Projects
The government/industry partnership announced this deal with no details
about how the money would be apportioned. What projects do
they envision? What percentage is for sediment cleanup? Or
for compensation? This was just a media release with no details,
and the true detailed proposal has yet to be announced a month and a half
later.
Appleton's Workers at Risk
This delay tactic may hurt the workers at Appleton Paper because they
may be getting a false picture of their true liability when they take over
ownership of the company in the near future. It would be healthier for
them to have the full financial picture now.
Undeserved Positive Publicity
Appleton Paper representatives claim this is a "no strings attached"
agreement, which is absolutely false. They've purchased a 4 year
delay in the bulk of their responsibility (~90%). In addition,
this corporation has caused over a billion dollars of economic
damage (not including human health care costs) while poisoning millions
of
people. They don't deserve to be painted as generous heroes
in this
settlement. If they were good neighbors they would have
stopped using
PCBs as soon as their workers showed health effects (probably within
the
first year of use.) Or cleaned up the river right away without
being
asked. Instead, they've dragged their feet for nearly 50
years.
Public Confusion
The final comprehensive river cleanup plan will be big and complicated
enough for the public to absorb and understand without throwing in this
added complexity. They're deliberately creating chaos at a critical
time in the public involvement process.
No Public Hearing
The agencies refuse to hold even one public hearing on this issue.
A DNR official recently boasted that they've had many months of "non-stop
daily collaboration" with the paper mills on the Fox River issue.
Yet, these same government employees are unwilling to hold even ONE face-to-face
meeting with the public who provides their paychecks. They
refuse to publicly answer questions, discuss the issue in front of
the news
media, or hear a public debate on the issue.
This is just the latest in a long series of cases where our government has refused to hold hearings or give advance notice of major decisions they're making. They've abandoned even the pretense of listening to public concerns before making multi-million dollar decisions.
What You Can Do!
Write a comment letter (to be received by Sept. 21 deadline)
Assistant Attorney General
Environment and Natural Resources Division
U.S. Dept. of Justice
P.O. Box 7611
Washington, DC 20044-7611
In your letter, refer to the case information: U.S. and State
of Wisconsin
v. Appleton Papers Inc. and NCR Corporation (E.D. Wis.), reference
numbers
90-11-2-1045 and 90-11-2-1045Z.
* A key point to make in your letter:
Request a 60 day public comment extension beyond Sept. 21, to allow
the
public time to review the comprehensive Fox River cleanup plan,
due to be
released at the end of September, before giving final comment on this
$40
million agreement. The public needs more detailed background
information
before commenting.
To see the consent decree agreement, go to DNR's website:
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/water/wm/lowerfox
Every five years all Nationwide Wetlands Permits (NWPs) come up for
review
and reauthorization. The Army Corps of Engineers has released its draft
revisions to current NWPs in the Federal Register. The proposal
would
allow the US Army Corps of Engineers to ignore stricter environmental
standards for wetlands that were adopted by the Corps in 2000.
Specifically the proposal would:
- Allow the Corps to waive the 300-foot limit on stream destruction,
- Loosen restrictions on filling wetlands in floodplains
- Allow coal mining companies to continue to bury and destroy
- Bypass the minimum requirement that there be at least one acre of
meaning a developer could dig or fill a mile (or more) of a stream under a
general permit that is only supposed to allow "minimal adverse effects"
hundreds of miles of streams with mountaintop removal "valley fills" - with
virtually no limits or conditions
wetlands protected or created from every acre destroyed (1:1 acreage
mitigation)
Obtain a full text copy of the NWP's through the Corps of Engineers
home page or GPO Federal Register address -
http://www.usace.army.mil/inet/functions/cw/cecwo/reg/
What You Can Do
Please send your comment letter about these serious wetland rule changes
by
Sept. 24 deadline to
HQ-USACE
ATTN: CECW-OR
441 "G" Street, NW
Washington, DC 20314-1000
EPA To Revise Impaired Waters Rule
EPA Administrator Christie Whitman announced that the Agency will propose
an eighteen-month delay to the July 2000 rule concerning total maximum
daily loads (TMDLs) for polluted waterbodies.
This allows the administration and its industry allies to not only
reconsider the proposed changes in the Clinton administration's rule,
but
to reopen all of the provisions of the TMDL regulations - new and old
- for
debate and ultimately to weaken the entire TMDL watershed cleanup program.
The TMDL program was a critical part of the 1972 Clean Water Act and
today
provides the best hope for tackling the job of cleaning up more than
20,000
polluted water bodies identified by states. Clean up plans for
most of
these waters are already decades overdue. The Bush administration's
proposal to reopen provisions of the TMDL rule for potential weakening
amendments presents a major threat to this important program and, if
the
program is weakened, would be a major environmental and public health
setback for the American people.
Poll after poll has demonstrated Americans' overwhelming support for
clean water.
Cleaning up polluted waterways will have a profound impact on the
environment, economics, and health of communities across the country.
Yet,
40 percent of our nation's waters are still not safe for fishing or
swimming, or as aquatic habitat. Beaches and shellfish beds are closed
annually due to polluted runoff. Year after year, public health and
the
environment are threatened due to waters that are unsafe for people
and for
aquatic life. Now is not the time for further delay or weakening of
the
Clean Water Act's program designed to clean up our waters.
Reopening the TMDL regulations with the likely result of weakening this
program will only makes matters worse for communities like ours in
Northeast Wisconsin.
Cleaning up the country's contaminated lakes, rivers, streams and coasts is what the Clean Water Act requires and what the public wants. It is time to get the job done.
For more information on the TMDL program go to
:www.epa.gov/owow/tmdl/
on the Internet.
What You Can Do
The EPA will take comments on the proposed water quality standards
delay, to be received by the Sept. 10 deadline.
Write to:
Christine Todd Whitman, Admin.
US Environ. Protection Agency
401 M Street SW
Mail Code 1101
Washington, DC 20460
Also, write a brief letter to your elected federal Congress members and tell them what you think:
Senator Russ Feingold
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Senator Herb Kohl
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Congressman Mark Green
House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Congressman Thomas Petri
House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Cyanide and Mining in Wisconsin
Free Public Program --- Please Join Us!
Wisconsin citizens are increasingly concerned about the potential for
toxic
cyanide spills and contamination during transporation and use of this
chemical for processing metallic sulfide ores from mines in northern Wisconsin,
such as the
proposed Crandon Mine at the vulnerable headwaters of the Wolf and
Fox
Rivers. Cyanide disasters at several mines around the world
show these
concerns are valid, and legislation is now proposed in Wisconsin to
ban
such cyanide use in our state.
Please join us for an in-depth program on this issue, and learn how
you can
get involved. Our two speakers each have more than 20 years of
experience
with mining issues in Wisconsin and elsewhere.
George Rock, a retired engineer, long-time activist leader, and
member of
Clean Water's Board of Directors and theWisconsin Resources Protection
Council, will outline the cyanide concerns and provide updates on a
variety
of other recent mining news. He will provide many detailed
handouts, and
show a 10 minute video about a cyanide mining disaster in New South
Wales.
Al Gedicks is a professor of sociology at UW-La Crosse and the
director of
the Center for Alternative Mining Development Policy. He has
written
extensively on the social, economic and environmental impacts of mining
and
energy development and is the author of two books on the subject, "The
New
Resource Wars: Native and Environmental Struggles Against Multinational
Corporations" (1993) and most recently, "Resource Rebels." He has also
produced and directed several documentary films on mining and native
peoples. His most recent film, "Keepers of the Water", about
the Indian
and environmental resistance to the proposed Crandon Mine, won the
"Best
Environmental Program" award at the Red Earth American Indian Film
and
Video Festival in Oklahoma City in 1997.
Prof. Gedicks will speak at the Monday program and be available afterwards
for a signing session for his new book, "Resource Rebels, Native Challenges
to Mining and Oil Corporations." Native peoples are facing extinction
globally due to the greed of mining and oil companies. As the
energy
crisis intensifies, their plight sounds an alarm to all those concerned
about global warming, genocide, and preventable eco-disasters.
This book
traces the development of multiracial transnational movements that
are
resisting resource extraction and creating a new environmental ethic.
Monday, Sept. 24 --- 7:00 p.m.
Brown County Library, 515 Pine Street, downtown Green Bay
Speakers: Al Gedicks and George Rock
Wednesday, Sept. 26 --- 7:00 p.m.
Appleton Library, 225 N. Oneida Street, downtown Appleton
Speaker: George Rock
Tired of seeing so much "litter on a stick" cluttering our roadways?
Here is your chance to let your legislators know how you feel!
Background
- A 1997 study by Scenic America ranked Wisconsin 4th in the nation in
- Current DOT estimates suggest approximately 11,000 billboards along federal-aid Wisconsin highways (major hwys).
- As of 1997, Minnesota and Iowa each have less than 5,000 billboards
- Alaska, Hawaii, Vermont and Maine have 0 billboards, anywhere.
- 2000 cost of permit for operation of one billboard - $0 per year.
- 2001 cost of permit for operation of one billboard - $35 per year.
- Potential income of one billboard - greater than $50,000 per year.
- Meanwhile, each billboard destroys another bit of Wisconsin's beautiful
- The billboard industry is convinced that you don't care and counts on
number of billboards.
along federal-aid highways.
landscape.
you doing nothing.
place a moratorium on billboard construction statewide, increase annual
billboard permitting fees from $35 to $235, and use the additional funds to
buy billboards from companies in order to bring them down.
For further information contact Ward Lyles at elwardl@hotmail.com
or check out Citizens' for a Scenic Wisconsin CSW's website at
www.scenicwisconsin.org.
What You Can Do
Write to your elected representatives and tell them what you think:
State Senator
P.O. Box 7882
Madison, WI 53707
State Rep. (Last Name, A thru L)
P.O. Box 8952
Madison, WI 53708
State Rep. (Last Name, Mc thru Z)
P.O. Box 8953
Madison, WI 53708
(If you don't know who your elected state representatives are, call
the
Legislative Hotline 1-800-362-9472 on weekdays.)
Sept. 7 - First meeting of Aquaculture Industry Working Group,
10 a.m.,
room 611B, Natural Resources building, 101 South Webster St., Madison.
Contact Jerry Rodenberg at (608) 266-7715.
Sept. 18 - DNR public hearing on creation of ch. NR 331, Wis.
Adm. Code,
for fish passages around barriers on rivers and streams. Will specifically
address public rights issues on navigable waters with fish passages
and
describe cost-share programs. Also, info. on factors to consider
and DNR
decision process. Contact Karl Scheidegger at (608) 267-9426.
Hearing: 10
a.m. Auditorium, Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary, 1660 East Shore Drive,
Green
Bay
Sept. 19 - DNR public hearing on application of Willow
Shores Development,
LLC to construct three piers on bed of Outlet of Shawano Lake.
Hearing:
12:45 p.m., room 4A, Shawano Co. Courthouse, 311 North
Main St. Shawano.
Contact Div. of Hearings & Appeals, (608) 266-7709.
Sept. 24 - A DNR contested case hearing on application of Stephen
Kieffer
for permit to remove materials from bed of Green Bay, Washington Island,
Door County. Hearing: 12:30 p.m., Sister Bay Village Hall, 703
North
Bayshore Dr., Sister Bay. Contact Div. of Hearings & Appeals,
(608)
266-7709.
Sept. 25 - Wis. Waterways Commission, 1 p.m., Wis. Maritime Museum,
75
Maritime Dr. Manitowoc. Concerning recreational boating issues or the
Commission's responsibilities specified in s. 15.341, Wis. Statures,
which
are not on the agenda may be acted upon if Commission determines it
is
urgent to act. Such matters may be raised as a result of discussions
under
Dept. reports and member items.
Sept. 25-26 - Natural Resources Board meeting (details not set). Contact
Linda Jahns (608) 267-7420.
Sept. 27 and Oct. 2 - DNR public hearing on revisions to chs.
NR 400, 405,
406, 408, 439, 445,and 446 and the creation of subch. II of ch. NR
446,
Wis. Adm. Code, relating to the control of the atmospheric deposition
of
mercury. Contains a phased mercury reduction for four major electric
utilities covering 15-years. Five years after promulgation, a 30% reduction
in mercury emissions. 50% reduction after 10 years, and a final
reduction
of 90% after 15 years. Also caps mercury emissions for other utilities
and
sources emitting 10 pounds of mercury or more. Contact: Jon Heinrich,
(608)
267-7547. Hearings:
September 27 - 4:30 p.m. Auditorium, James William Jr. High School, 915
Acacia Ln, RhinelanderOctober 2 - 4:30 p.m. Mallard Room, Dar Boy Club, N9695 Cty Hwy. N. Appleton
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