December, 2002
Vol. 6, No. 10

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Table of Contents

Wisconsin is Worst in Nation on Air Pollution Permits

What You Can Do
Title V Facts 
Higher Permit Fees are Needed
Major Air Pollution Sources in Wisconsin Operating Without Permits

Open Houses Planned
CWAC comments on DNR’s  Proposal
Please Attend!
Please Write!
The DNR’s List of Public Beaches on Lake Michigan in Northeast Wisconsin 

Results of the past year’s alerts

Wisconsin is Worst in Nation on Air Pollution Permits
 
Environmental, community and religious groups recently filed a formal petition with the U.S. EPA requesting action to fix Wisconsin’s clean air operating permits program.  
 
The program is supposed to require industry to inform the public about air pollution from major sources and hold company executives accountable for violations.     Under federal law, Wisconsin was required to issue operating permits to the state’s 610 largest sources of air pollution no later than 1998, but the Governor and Legislature have denied the DNR crucial funding to carry out this mandate.  
 
As of October, 280 (or 46%) of the state’s largest air pollution sources are operating without the required permits.
 
“EPA must order the state to fix the program and protect public health in Wisconsin,” said Caryl Terrell of the Sierra Club.  “For eight years the Governor and Legislature have hobbled the DNR’s ability to write permits, conduct inspections, and take enforcement actions against the state’s largest sources of air pollution.  The result is illegal and threatens our communities.”
 
Currently, Wisconsin has the worst permit issuance rate of any state in the nation with more than 400 major sources of pollution.  The petition requests that EPA impose sanctions against the state, including withholding highway funding, unless the new Governor and Legislature swiftly restore adequate funding to the permit program.  If the state fails to comply, the EPA could ultimately take over administration air law enforcement in Wisconsin.
 
“As Governor-elect Doyle puts together his first budget we urge him to increase the permit fees associated with pollution of our air in order to fund fully the DNR’s air permits program.  By so doing, he will help protect public health and avoid federal intervention,” stated Wisconsin’s Environmental Decade’s Marc Looze.

The petition gives EPA sixty days to make a formal finding as to whether Wisconsin adequately administers and enforces its clean air permit program.
 
“Without these permits, local residents are in the dark about whether local smokestacks are violating the law and polluting at levels harming their health,” said Melissa Scanlan, Executive Director of Midwest Environmental Advocates, Inc. and one of the two attorneys representing the groups.
 
The groups include: Clean Water Action Council, Midwest Environmental Advocates, Sierra Club, Wisconsin’s Environmental Decade, Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger, Citizens for a Better Environment, Wisconsin Interfaith Climate Change Coalition, and Wis. Public Interest Research Group.
 
For more information contact Melissa Scanlan (608) 251-5047 or Bruce Nilles (608) 219-9725.   The petition, a list of unpermitted facilities, and other supporting information is available online at: http://www.midwestadvocates.org

What You Can Do

Please write, as soon as possible, to your new Governor and elected representatives in the state Legislature and tell them what you think about increasing air pollution permit fees in the upcoming State Budget, to bring Wisconsin’s air management program into compliance.

Governor-Elect Doyle is required to submit his proposed budget to the State Legislature by the last Tuesday in January.

Write to:

 Governor-Elect Jim Doyle
 Governor’s Transition Office 
 149 E. Wilson Street
 Madison, WI  53702
 e-mail: transition@doa.state.wi.us

 Senator                    , 
 P.O. Box 7882 
 Madison, WI  53707
 
 Rep.   (Last Name, A thru L)  
 P.O. Box 8952 
 Madison, WI  53708
                
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 toll-free Legislative Hotline at 1-800-362-9472  on weekdays, between 8:00 and 5:00) 

Title V Facts 
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The Purpose of  Title V Operating Permits

• If a facility is considered a major source, such as s a paper mill or power plant, it is required to obtain a clean air permit governing how they operate their pollution control program.

• Such an operating permit requires a facility to monitor and record data on pollution emissions, plant operating hours, and even the raw material or fuel used.  By so doing, facilities spell our their efforts to control pollution and comply with the law.  Facilities must regularly submit publicly-available monitoring data to the DNR to ensure compliance with those permit requirements.  This information allows communities to see whether or not a facility is in fact a good neighbor and complying with the law.  To ensure accuracy and accountability, company executives must certify that the monitoring data is accurate and that the facility is complying with the law.

• For a  pollution source that is operating without an operating permit, it is extremely difficult for the public to determine whether a facility is in compliance and how much pollution it is emitting.

• There are at least 610 major sources of air pollution in Wisconsin that require operating permits.  Of these major sources, 280 (or 46%) facilities in 50 counties lack the permits required to operate.

• Dozens of the major sources located in the Eastern Wisconsin smog (ozone) nonattainment area lack operating permits, as do three of the State’s five largest sources of the smog precursors known as volatile organic compounds: General Motors (Rock County), Tenneco Packaging Inc. (Lincoln County), and Consolidated Papers Inc. - Kraft Division (now owned by Stora Enso) (Wood County). 

• Four of the State’s five largest sources of cancer-causing air pollutants lack operating permits: Marshfield Doorsystems (Weyerhauser Company Door Division) (Wood County), Wausau Paper Company (Marathon County), Crucible Materials Corp. (Walworth County), and Red Star Yeast (Milwaukee County).

• It’s the Law  Federal law requires that operating permit programs be funded entirely from fees generated from pollution sources that make the program necessary in the first place.

• Politics Interfered   For the past three biennial budget cycles, the DNR has sought to raise permit fees so it would have adequate resources to issue all permits and conduct regular inspections of these large pollution sources.  Every time, the Governor and Legislature denied the funding request or, worse yet, cut funding.  In 1999, the Governor and Legislature even eliminated the automatic annual increase in permit fees
that had allowed the limited program funding to keep pace with inflation.

• Raise Fees, Eliminate Cap  Major sources currently pay permit fees of $35.71 per ton of pollution with a cap on fees for sources that emit more than 5,000 tons annually.  The DNR estimates that in order to be able to issue permits in a timely manner and inspect each facility annually, permit fees would need to increase by $26.46 per ton if the 5,000-ton cap is maintained.  If the cap is removed the fee would need to increase by only $15.83 per ton.

 
* Note:  This list was the latest available from the Wisconsin DNR.  A few of the facilities named above may have received their new permits since the list was updated.  Call the DNR air management program (920-492-5881 for the Northeast DNR District) for the latest information on each facility.

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Mining in Wisconsin - Public Discussion

Join us in a discussion of Mining in Wisconsin

Clean Water Action Council will host the next meeting of the Wolf Watershed Educational Project, where activists from throughout Wisconsin discuss the latest mining news and opportunities for citizen input on the issue.

Saturday. Jan. 11
10:00 am to 3:00 pm, 
at the Green Bay Labor Temple, 
1570 Elizabeth Street, Green Bay

(Free lunch provided)

Key topics:  Doyle Administration choices for the DNR Secretary and Natural Resources Board, the public acquisition of the mine site, and the campaign to pass the cyanide ban and “no special treatment” bills in the legislature.

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Mark Your Calendars!

*Musicians Peter & Lou Berryman in concert!

We had so much fun with the Berryman’s at last year’s Annual Banquet, that we 
decided to invite them again!  

Friday, March 21 
at the Historic West Theater in Green Bay

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Beach Bacteria Monitoring

The DNR recently issued a news release, summarized below, with emphasis added:

Open Houses Planned

More than 170 public beaches line Wisconsin’s Great Lakes coast.  State and local health and environmental officials want to know which beaches people think should be a priority for testing and how they want to  learn about swimming conditions.
 
These sessions will not address causes of the highly publicized beach closings in summer 2002 in Door County and elsewhere along Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan coast. Rather, public input from these open houses will help complete a plan under development since 2001 to meet federal requirements for states to improve monitoring and public notification at their coastal beaches.  
 
“Unfortunately, the federal law and the available federal funding don’t get at identifying and reducing sources of contamination,”  says Toni Glymph, the DNR toxicologist leading the Beach Workgroup of state and local health and environmental officials.  “We realize those are critical needs, but this testing and notification plan is a start.  People need to be aware of risks and make informed choices.”
 
The Workgroup needs to categorize beaches as high, medium, or low priority beaches.  The priority level will determine how frequently the beach is monitored and will guide decisions on use of grant money.  High priority beaches, for instance, may be monitored five times a week, compared to once a week for low priority beaches.
 
“We need to know from the public which of these are high priority beaches - beaches with high usage and a higher potential of fecal contamination based on factors such as the location of treatment plant outfalls, the presence of waterfowl, runoff problems, farms and industry.  We also want to know the best way to distribute information about beach conditions and beach closings.  How much info. is too much, too little?”
 
Wisconsin and other states with coastal waters are required under a federal law passed in 2000 to submit a monitoring and notification plan to the U.S. EPA --- or the agency will develop one for them.  DNR secured an EPA grant in summer 2001 and convened the Beach Workgroup to develop a plan for Wisconsin.
 
The group has developed proposals for how frequently beaches should be monitored, the tests to be performed, where water samples should be collected, and how people are notified of unsafe conditions.  Now they want feedback on these proposals, to help them refine the plan before DNR submits it to EPA in March 2003 to qualify for federal funds to implement the plan.
 
Coastal communities won’t be required to adopt the monitoring and notification guidelines in the plan, but DNR expects more than $200,000 from EPA to assist communities that want to implement the plan in summer 2003.
 
State parks will follow the guidelines, and Glymph is working with state Department of Health and Family Services officials to use workgroup recommendations to update the model monitoring and notification ordinance DHFS provides to local communities.
 
Currently, DNR staff are responsible for monitoring beaches at state properties, and tribal and local health departments are responsible for other public beaches within their borders.  Because testing is not mandatory and local communities are not required to follow state guidelines for monitoring beaches, there’s inconsistency in how frequently beaches are sampled, how people are notified of possible unsafe swimming conditions, and in reporting of beach closures.
 
Workgroup members generated a list of 60 public beaches along Wisconsin’s Great Lakes, and then drove backroads to find these known sites and ferret out another 113 public beaches with car access.
 
They assessed beaches for contamination risks and recorded information about the location of outfalls, presence of waterfowl, slope and type of soils, and other factors.  They also surveyed coastal beachgoers to find out how they wanted to receive information about beach conditions.
 The DNR has produced maps showing public beaches, a matrix showing the different monitoring requirements for high, medium and low priority beaches, and the tools proposed for improving public notification of unsafe swimming conditions.  You can view all this online at: http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/water/wm/wqs/index.htm
 
CWAC comments on DNR’s  Proposal

1.  Locate and Stop the Causes   It’s an outrage that our state legislature and Governor have not allocated resources to determine the causes of beach contamination.  Once sources are located, an enforcement program is also needed for clean-up.

2.  Warnings are Not Enough   A warning system is not an adequate response to public health threats.  Our state and local health officials need to work harder to STOP the threats.

3.  No Beach is “Low Priority”  No beach should be classified as “low priority”  because:

• It’s an open invitation for upstream pollution sources to be careless.
• All waterways should be “swimmable” according to the federal Clean Water Act.  
• Under the Public Trust Doctrine all the waters of Wisconsin belong to the public.  Polluters should not be allowed to degrade “low priority” waters or restrict public uses of those waters.

4.  Testing Should be Mandatory   No Wisconsin community should be allowed to pretend its beaches are clean, when they have no data.  The public should be protected from such basic health threats.

5.  Get Money from Polluters   The fees should be increased for water pollution permits to allow frequent testing of all waterways in Wisconsin.  Fees should be set per ton of pollution discharged, to encourage sources to reduce their pollution.   Lack of funding is a poor excuse for lack of monitoring.  If sources want the privilege of a pollution permit, they should have to prove they’re not causing health risks downstream.

6.  Stop Blaming the Feds   As usual, the state is trying to shift blame to the federal government for lack of funding.  But these beaches are not in Washington DC. The state should be testing and taking action regardless of federal rules, and should not wait for full federal funding.  In fact, most people have been shocked to learn how lax Wisconsin beach testing and enforcement has been all these years.

7.  Tourism Requires Safety   Testing should be frequent and consistent statewide, especially given the  $11 billion annual value of Wisconsin’s tourism industry.  Visitors should be able to relax knowing they can go anywhere in the state assured of clean water.   At the same time, Wisconsin has a moral responsibility to give LOUD warnings if the water is not clean.

8.  Track the Contamination   Testing should be frequent at mouths of rivers, at discharge pipes, at manure run-off sites, and at other potential sources to help track and stop contamination.

9.  What About Inland Waters?   Why are only Great Lakes beaches targets of a statewide testing program?  Inland lakes, rivers and streams should also be tested for safe swimming.  It’s obvious that this program is based entirely on a federal mandate and federal funding, while ignoring wider needs in Wisconsin.

10.  Neglected Areas  The beach list doesn’t include obvious problem spots like Bay Beach in Brown County, or any waters off Oconto County.   Bay Beach is important to test, because the Fox River flows directly past it, then along the East Shore north to Door County.   Because of the dominant flow pattern, Bay Beach could signal a key source of contamination for this entire stretch of shoreline, and would help warn citizens along adjacent private shorelines.  Bay Beach is currently posted to warn against swimming, due to suspended sediments in the water, but official state and local plans include the ultimate goal of opening Bay Beach to swimming.  It is still often used by swimmers and waders every summer, and they deserve to know the true condition of the water.   Bay Beach serves a large metro area, with a high concentration of low income people living nearby, unable to afford vacations to clean northern beaches.  As a matter of environmental justice, they deserve equal treatment for this abused beach.  Lack of data here is unacceptable.

11.  Public Hearings Needed   We need townhall-style public hearings, where we all get together to hear public comments, and the news media gets a truer sense of public opinion.  These Open House (cafeteria- style) DNR events divide and conquer the public, by isolating citizens when they comment.  Outrage is stifled and democracy dies as the public feels their comments aren’t considered in DNR’s final decisions.  Legislators never hear the debate.

Please tell theDNR what you think about this beach testing proposal at two upcoming “Open Houses” from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan 15
Brown County Library  (downstairs)
515 Pine Street, Green Bay

Thursday, Jan 16
Sturgeon Bay High School Commons
(North side), 1230 Michigan St. 

Wednesday, Jan 22
Lakeshore Technical College
Cleveland (near Manitowoc)

Please Write!

Ms. Toni Glymph
DNR Bureau of Watershed Management
Water Quality Standards Section
P.O. Box 7921
Madison, WI 53707

Write a  Letter-to-the-Editor of your local newspaper

The DNR’s List of Public Beaches on Lake Michigan in Northeast Wisconsin 
 

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Progress Report from Wisconsin InterNetwork (WIN) 

Clean Water Action Council participates in a statewide coalition of environmental and conservation organizations, called Wisconsin InterNetwork (WIN), who send e-mail action alerts to their members on key issues, coordinated by the League of Conservation Voters.
 
The alert system generates thousands of citizen e-mails and faxes to legislators and agency administrators each month, letting them know public concerns about environmental issues.  A statewide WIN Board of Directors chooses one priority issue each month to target. The system supplements our other work in generating petitions, “snail mail” and phone calls to decision-makers.  
 
While your personal letter is still the most powerful statement, WIN has created quite a stir in 2002.  While we hoped for better with some of our battles, we forced decision-makers to at least reconsider their actions.  
 
We want to thank those who already participate in WIN, for making your voices heard!   If you would like to join this network, just send us your e-mail address (our e-mail is cwac@execpc.com).
 
The following are the results of the past year’s alerts: 

Ashley Wetland Exemption

State wetlands law requires a DNR permit to fill a wetland. Ashley Furniture Industries never applied for a permit for their project, and instead wanted an special individual exemption from this law placed in the budget bill, which would have opened the floodgates for others to bypass state law.  Outcome: Success!  The special exemption was removed from the budget bill.

Badger Reuse Plan Needed State Leadership 

The Plan calls for the ecological protection and restoration of 7,400 acres of land once occupied by the Badger Army Ammunition Plant, but state leadership was lagging. Outcome: Success!   WIN letters convinced the Governor to increase state activities, with the result that all the parties to the Badger reuse agreement have now come on board with their official endorsements.  A “signing ceremony” will be scheduled in the first few days of the New Year.  

Water Protection Down the Drain  

The State Assembly passed a Budget Bill cutting DNR’s budget.  If enacted, the cuts would delay implementation of the Safe Drinking Water Act, halt implementation of the federal standards for arsenic in drinking water, eliminate the permitting, monitoring and enforcement program for factory farms, decrease inspections and enforcement for public water supply systems and significantly reduce DNR staff for regulating wetlands. Outcome: Some Success for now. The budget conference committee rejected Assembly cuts, but the issue will return.  Environmentalist will call for alternate funding, such as changing the motorboat fuel formula to correspond to the rise in motorboat fuel consumption, which could add $6.4 mil. per year to protect our 15,000 lakes and 43,000 miles of rivers. 

A Clean &Secure Energy Future

The U.S. Senate deliberated on energy legislation which included provisions to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, to define fuel efficiency standards and to determine the percentage of energy produced by fossil fuels versus solar, wind and other renewable sources.  WIN faxes asked the Senate to catalyze the development of clean and renewable energy resources; and increase fuel efficiency in cars and light trucks to a modest 35 mpg by 2013. Outcome: Some Success  for now. The Senate voted to block the drilling proposal,  Yet provisions for increased fuel efficiency standards and a renewable energy portfolio were defeated.  Action on the energy bill ended in stalemate. The battle is set to resume shortly after Congress returns in January. 

Help Ensure the Apostle Islands Remain Wild

The beauty of Wisconsin’s Apostle Islands National Lakeshore draws kayakers and others from around the world. The National Park Service (NPS) is now involved in a study to determine how much of the Lakeshore it will recommend for permanent wilderness protection. WIN faxes asked that at least 94% of the park be designated as wilderness (Alternative 1 in the NPS study). Outcome: On its way to Success.   The NPS Apostle Islands’ superintendent received 1,800 comments, and only 10-15 people were opposed to wilderness protection!   This winter NPS will distribute a draft study and an environmental impact statement. A public comment period is scheduled for next summer.    

Clean the River and Bay the right way ---Say NO to piecemeal PCB cleanup 

The EPA and DNR proposed a PCB cleanup plan for the Fox River and Green Bay, but the proposed cleanup plan as written would fail to protect public health and wildlife. The standards are not stringent enough and some of the most polluted spots would not be cleaned.  In addition, the agencies may split the cleanup plan into several pieces, a move that will add many more years to the time that citizens must be exposed to PCBs.  The WIN faxes asked of the decision-makers:  Release a complete PCB cleanup plan that is adequate to protect public health and wildlife, even if it takes a little longer to adopt.  Outcome: OUR FINGERS ARE STILL CROSSED  The WIN system generated 1,100 faxes to DNR and EPA.  The Record of Decision may be issued by DNR and EPA by the time this newsletter reaches you.

Protect the Clean Water Act 

October 18 marked the 30th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, one of America’s most successful environmental laws.  Unfortunately, the Bush Administration plans to reduce the scope of water bodies protected under the Clean Water Act.  WIN faxes urged Wisconsin congressional members to restore protections for “isolated” wetlands (wetlands not associated with other water ways) nationally by cosponsoring the Clean Water Authority Restoration Act of 2002, and oppose Bush Admin. attempts to gut the Act.  Outcome: FINGERS ARE STILL CROSSED

Strong air pollution rules needed to breathe easier 

DNR Air Management staff have been working to update the state’s list of hazardous air contaminants. The administrative rule that regulates air contaminants (NR 445) is being revised to add chemicals found to harm human health.  Planned revisions also reduce allowable emission levels for many chemicals on the existing rule list.  Even so, these revisions still fall short of adequately protecting human health.  WIN faxes urged DNR to truly protect Wisconsin communities from toxic air pollution and to not bow out to those who object to these necessary changes.  Outcome: OUR FINGERS ARE STILL CROSSED  The DNR staff will hand the revised rules (hopefully including our changes) to the Natural Resources Board, which will make the final decision on the rules.  The rules will be on the agenda for the NRB’s March meeting.

Help Stop Great Lakes Dredging Debacle 

The US Army Corps of Engineers is seeking funds from Congress to begin spending $20 million on a feasibility study to deepen the Great Lakes shipping lanes. This request stirs up major trouble, including improper toxic sediment handling and disposal.  It also opens up the door for more invasive species to disrupt the Great Lakes.  WINasked decision-makers to please put a stop to this study before it starts. Outcome: OUR FINGERS ARE STILL CROSSED

Mining Bills at Stake  

We are at a very critical point in our efforts to protect Wisconsin from the dangers posed by the Crandon mine. Bills to ban cyanide and regulatory special treatment have passed the Senate last year. These senate bills had a good chance of passing the Assembly if Speaker Scott Jensen brought the bills to the Assembly floor for a vote.  
 
WIN urged Assembly leader Scott Jensen to bring mining bills to the floor for a vote and to please support these bills without weakening amendments. Outcome: Stalemate  The mining bills died last spring because the whole Assembly was never allowed to consider them.  Many developments have happened since, though, which could put an end to the dangers produced by Crandon mine.
 
Soon after the DNR raised new concerns about pollution of groundwater and surface waters by the proposed Crandon mine, the mine owners put the site up for sale. Although Governor McCallum at first was very interested in purchasing the site, he balked once he received two appraisals.  Advocates for the state’s purchase of the land complained that the appraisals were incorrect.  As it stands, Governor-elect Doyle plans to reconsider the purchase.
 
In the meantime, the DNR permit process continues.  There is no guarantee that some other party won’t come in and pick up where the former owners left off. Therefore, Rep. Black plans to reintroduce a bill in 2003 to ban the use of cyanide in mining.  Senator Dave Hansen will continue his efforts to strengthen the state’s groundwater standards as they apply to metallic mining.

Prairie Wetlands: Restoring Connections

The Wisconsin Wetlands Association and The Prairie Enthusiasts are sponsoring a 2-day event on wetlands and uplands interaction, restoration and management, as their 8th Annual Wetlands Science Forum:

January 24 and 25
The Radisson Hotel in 
LaCrosse, Wisconsin

The conference will include speakers from throughout the Midwest who will detail the hydrology and ecology of prairie wetland landscapes, the ways various species depend on prairies and wetlands, and watershed restoration.  Featured speakers are:

Mike Mossman, DNR, on the history of prairie wetlands and public perceptions of them.

Tim Searchinger, Environmental Defense, on the value and function of prairie wetlands and funds for restoring them

Don Reed, Southeast Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, with an overview of prairie wetland ecology.

Friday, Jan 24 will feature talks on the science of praire wetlands and will close with a dinner gala.

Saturday, Jan 25 will feature “Beyond Coon Valley,” a discussion and planning session on restoration strategies within the Mississippi River watershed.

 For more information, call Wisconsin Wetlands Association at 608-250-9971.  Registration information is available online at:  http://www.wiscwetlands.org  

New EPA Online Database

 The EPA has created the Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO), a searchable database that gives the public and industry direct access to the current environmental comliance record of more than 800,000 regulated facilities nationwide.  Users can search for facilities in their community to determine whether:

• EPA or State/Local governments have conducted compliance inspections,
• Violations were deteted; or
• Enforcement actions were taken and penalties were assessed in response to environmental law violations