Partial Fox River Decision a Major Disappointment
What You Can DoClean Water Action Council’s 11th Annual Banquet
About the BerrymansToxic Chemical Study Sounds Warning for Children
Brown County 3rd Statewide in Respiratory Pollutants
WisPIRG’s RecommendationsBudget Priorities
Clean Water Action Council Recommendations
What You Can DoFor more information visit www.FoxRiverWatch.com
Partial Fox River Decision a Major Disappointment
The DNR and EPA recently announced a partial Record of Decision (ROD) for the Fox River and Green Bay PCB cleanup.
Unfortunately, the decision was very weak in several ways. It
is virtually identical to the upstream plan proposed last year:
1. The Plan is Incomplete We were supposed to receive a final decision for the whole river and bay six months ago, yet this announcement addresses less than 10% of the problem, just the upstream portions of the river from Neenah (Little Lake Butte des Morts) to Little Rapids.For more information:More than 90% of the PCBs in the entire river are concentrated in the final 7 miles between the DePere Dam and the mouth of the river, yet this portion of the cleanup remains undecided.
The agencies have been studying the Fox River PCBs for 30 years. Delays are inexcusable at this point. The embarrassed agencies are pushing for a positive media spin, claiming they’ve “speeded up” the final decision by issuing a split ROD. We’re not impressed.
2. The Plan is Still Vague Though the agencies call this a “Record of Decision,” they did not give a final answer on key questions we’ve all been waiting for. Will they dredge the PCBs out, or cap them in place? Will they landfill or incinerate the sludges? The agencies refuse to commit and say instead that such details will be worked out this coming summer during the “Design Phase ” when additional sediment samples will be taken and detailed site engineering will be planned.
3. Major Loophole The ROD includes “flexibility” language which is alarmingly loose. The agencies will use “alternative technologies” if they are “as protective” and cost the polluting corporations less. This can be interpreted very broadly. From experience, we know the agencies cut corners to keep industry costs down. Citizens will have little input or recourse.
4. This is a Health Emergency, but the Governments are Oblivious. The agencies argue that it’s normal for river cleanups to be in stages, but experts have been saying for years that a timely Fox River cleanup requires the use of several cleanup crews working simultaneously on several sections at once. Otherwise the cleanup will take too long, continuing to endanger public health with each year of delay
The agencies could have issued this partial decision last spring, and finished the “Design Phase” last summer, to allow actual cleanup work to start this coming spring. But they didn’t. Their lackadaisical approach is infuriating. People are being poisoned and nothing gets done. If terrorists had dumped the PCBs we’d get immediate action.
5. Lack of Superfund Money The Fox River has not been formally designated as a federal Superfund site yet. We’re only “nominated.” This means we’ve received planning dollars from Superfund, but don’t qualify for any cleanup dollars from the fund.
The agencies have the design money they need for the first phase (as a result of the $40 million interim settlement with Appleton Paper and NCR Corp.), but perhaps they’ve delayed the Design Phase because they don’t yet have the larger cleanup dollars they need from the polluters. This first upstream phase alone will cost $76.1 million.
We can thank the stupidity of many of our local and state legislators for this lack of money (especially Governors Thompson and McCallum.) They have continuously opposed Superfund designation, even though Superfund has been our biggest boost and best hope all along.
6. Silencing the Public We waited 3 weeks to send you this newsletter, waiting for the agencies to tell us the date, time and place of the one public meeting on this topic. Unfortunately, they gave us just 1 week of notice, making it impossible to send the newsletter in time. (It takes a minimum of 2 weeks to print, fold, label, sort and mail. Non-profit bulk mail takes longer to arrive.) This agency delay was deliberate, because we had requested prompt and adequate notice, and the agencies had plenty of time to plan the meeting.
Only one meeting was held, in Appleton and so far the agencies have refused to hold any other meetings with the public in Green Bay or elsewhere, though it’s been more than a year since the last meeting.
They claim they’re speaking only with the “affected public” in Appleton, ignoring the fact that all the rest of us are downstream and greatly affected by any precedent set in the Appleton area. The people in Door County, Marinette and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan should not have to drive to Appleton to find out what’s happening.
As a result, Clean Water Action Council members did not get to read a different analysis or opinion prior to the Appleton meeting, if they knew about the meeting at all.
7. Polluters Influence Decisions To discourage citizen input at the Appleton meeting, the DNR made aggressive statements to the news media stating, “the time for debate is over.” So it’s not surprising that only 100 people attended. DNR staff were quoted in the Appleton Post Crescent (with the meeting announcement) as saying, “Nobody in that room, including the government staff at this point, can change the remedy.”
But meanwhile, the agencies are continuing to hold negotiations with the 7 polluting corporations. They’re pushing for voluntary commitments of funding from the polluters, to avoid litigation and delays. The governments are desperate for startup cleanup money, because of the lack of formal Superfund designation and Superfund dollars. We are very worried the corporations will use this leverage to influence the “flexibility” of the final decisions. The remedy seems very open to change.
Citizens are shut out and silenced, while the corporations have constant access to the decision-makers.
8. G-P and Agencies Upstage the Public The DNR and EPA held a surprise news conference at 5:00 p.m. in Green Bay on the same night as the Appleton public meeting.
They were announcing a $4 million commitment by Georgia-Pacific to help with the design phase of the Fox River downstream between the DePere Dam and the mouth of the river. (G-P will owe approximately $69-90 million for their share of the cleanup, so $4 million isn’t a big percentage.)
This announcement could have been made at any time, but they deliberately chose to compete on this particular evening with news coverage of public questions and concerns at the Appleton meeting. Not surprisingly, several reporters told us they would not cover the Appleton meeting, and the remaining articles were skimpy on meeting details, Important comments made by several citizens never received coverage.
9. The Cleanup Will NOT Protect Public Health The most disturbing aspect of the Record of Decision is the weakness of the 1 ppm PCB cleanup target. Our toxicologist, Dr. Jeffery Foran, presented evidence at last year’s public hearings showing that the proposed 1 ppm (parts per million) cleanup target for sediment was 4 times too high. He called for a .25 ppm dredging target (equal to 250 ppb - parts per billion) which would mix with cleaner sediments to achieve the 10 to 20 ppb average PCB sediment levels necessary for minimum protection
of public health and the lifting of fish consumption advisories. It was still a compromise, but reasonable and more effective.In contrast, the agencies are averaging their higher 1 ppm sediment residues with cleaner sediments nearby and underneath, to claim they are achieving the .25 ppm level —- but a 250 parts per billion average is NOT protective of health. The average needs to be much lower.
According to the DNR’s own documents, the 1ppm target decision will allow significant PCB residues to persist at unhealthy levels after cleanup for another 14 to 29 years in Little Lake Butte des Morts, and 40 to 70 years in the 20 river miles between Appleton and Little Rapids, until the PCBs gradually become diluted and flow downstream (to add to downstream problems).
Because the dredging itself won’t end until 7 years from now, this means fish warnings will still be necessary for more than 21 years into the future. This is an unacceptable response to a serious public health emergency.
Dr. Foran’s stronger .25 ppm PCBdredging target would allow fish advisories to be lifted almost immediately after dredging, and would greatly reduce the quantity of PCBs flowing downstream to Green Bay.
Ironically, seven years ago the DNR proposed to clean the same Little Lake Butte des Morts hotspot down to .05 ppm (50 ppb), based on public health concerns, but backed away after P.H. Glatfelter Paper Company refused to cooperate
(even with the state providing $5 million toward the cost.) Their new target cleanup standard is now 20 times weaker.10. Economic Issues The better .25 ppm target is not significantly more expensive than the 1 ppm target. In the worst and largest sediment hotspot between DePere and Green Bay, the incremental increase in cost would be only $18 million, but could mean lifting the fish advisories decades earlier —- surely worth the cost in terms of
public health protection and
tourism benefits.Recent media coverage has highlighted longterm U.S. paper industry losses. Since 1987, capital investments in new equipment and modernization in Wisconsin has plateaued, as the existing paper mills have aged. U.S. paper and pulp mills are being closed. The parent corporations have shifted their investments to third world countries (Southeast Asia, South America, etc.), building high-efficiency modern mills with fewer, low-paid workers. The main economic factor driving this shift is labor and benefit costs, not environmental or energy regulations.
We expect to hear increased pressure from certain legislators and the Wisconsin Paper Council for tax breaks, energy breaks, and weakened environmental standards to “save” the paper industry in Wisconsin. But if they don’t address the major driver (expensive labor) the corporations will just pocket the savings and leave Wisconsin anyway.
The corporations will be laughing all the way to the bank.
It’s time for the U.S. to rethink GATT, NAFTA, the World Trade Organization, and other open trade agreements which undercut U.S. workers, and our environmental and health standards.
We shouldn’t allow wealthy corporations to hide behind their money-making decisions, and avoid their environmental cleanup responsibilities. If the paper companies are leaving, that’s all the more reason to make them clean up the PCBs and compensate us for damages before they go --- so our economy will have a better chance of attracting new (cleaner) businesses after they’ve gone.
Public health must not be sacrificed in a misguided effort to hold on to vanishing mills.
11. Agencies Mislead the Public The DNR and EPA news release falsely states that the 1 ppm target will reduce PCBs to “levels protective of human health” and will help with “removal of all fish consumption advisories for the river and bay of Green Bay.” This is highly misleading to the news media and the public.
Levels “protective of human health” won’t be reached until at least 21 years from now.
Both the EPA and DNR have created misleading charts showing that “acceptable fish tissue” PCB concentrations are reached within one year of dredging in Appleton. But, when pressed, they admit this is not the same as saying fish consumption advisories will be lifted. The fish are “acceptable” to the government, but not edible. We’ve had several unbelievable discussions with the agencies on this point, and have concluded that EPA and DNR staff come from a different planet. Their version of “English” is distinctly different from ours.
When pressed again, they admit their chart is based on one-year-old walleye who just barely passed the “acceptable” threshold one year after dredging. But anglers go for 3-5 year old walleye as their “keepers.” The fish can accumulate a LOT more PCBs in those 3-5 years.
The government chart seems deliberately created to support the 1 ppm target cleanup, though it violates common sense.
If a similar chart were created to show a cleanup level necessary to protect subsistence fish consumers (people who live by fish eating), a much stricter cleanup target would have been chosen.
But the agencies didn’t create such a chart.
12. Natural Recovery At the Appleton meeting, DNR representative Ed Lynch worked hard to defend their use of the phrase “monitored natural recovery,’ for no action on the 20 miles between Appleton and Little Rapids. He said the PCBs would disappear through burial, dispersal and “natural” breakdown. Green Bay residents raised concerns about the PCBs recontaminating downstream sections of the river. Several citizens also asked how long it would take for the PCBs to break down, and Ed Lynch tried to avoid answering, then said, “10 to 20 years.” Clean Water’s President, Tom Kees, asked at the next opportunity, “Do you want to try that again?”
At this point, an EPA scientist stepped in and corrected Ed, admitting that many of the worst types of PCBs won’t break down for more than 100 years, and possibly centuries more. But until a citizen pressed the point, the agencies weren’t going to correct Ed. The agencies are so eager to justify their poor decision, they’re deliberately misleading the public.
13. Skin Contact Ed Lynch also told the audience, “You can wade in the mud” because skin contact with PCB-contaminated sediments is “safe.” This comment was irresponsible given that PCBs are rapidly absorbed directly through skin contact. The DNR and EPA risk assessment shows an elevated health risk due to skin contact. While this dose is not as high as through fish consumption, it could still be significant for shoreline residents who frequently wade along the river edges over a period of years, especially for children. Most people in the valley have already gotten their lifetime risk dose of PCBs. Adding more PCBs to this risk is NOT “safe.” It’s disturbing that all the health professionals from EPA and the Wisconsin Division of Health said nothing to correct Ed on this.
The agencies have also tried to minimize potential health risks due to breathing diluted PCBs.
Keep in mind that most human occupational risk assessments showing health problems were from exposures due to PCB skin contact and inhalation on the job, not direct consumption.
The partial Record of Decision and supporting documents are available
online at the DNR website:
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/water/wm/lowerfox/rifs/index.html
They’re also in area libraries.
Please write, as soon as possible, to your new Governor and elected representatives in the state Legislature and tell them what you think about this Record of Decision and agency actions.
Write to:
Governor Jim Doyle
Room 115 East, State Capitol
Madison, WI 53702
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)
Clean Water Action Council’s 11th Annual Banquet
We had so much fun with Peter and Lou Berryman as the centerpieces of last year’s dinner and concert, we decided to invite them again! They’re great fun, and homegrown in the Fox Valley. They met in highschool in Appleton in the 1960s and from there began a lifetime of musical entertaining, producing 12 recordings, several songbooks, and thousands of performances across the continent. They’ve been featured on Prairie Home Companion.
Peter and Lou Berryman Benefit Concert
at the Historic West Theater, corner of Walnut and
Broadway, downtown Green Bay, just west of the Fox River
Friday, March 21
5:00 to 6:00 p.m. —- Social Hour and Cash Bar
6:00 to 7:30 p.m. —- Buffet Dinner, Elections and Awards
7:30 to 9:30 p.m. ---- Peter and Lou Berryman in Concert
May attend concert only --- concert reservations not required.
The Historic West Theater is a beautiful, refurbished classic. The old stage has been restored, and the front seats removed to install an open dining area (also used for dancing). We can seat approximately 100 people for dinner, and another 150 in the fixed cushion theater seats remaining further back from the stage. The Theater is now under new management, and was previously known as the West Pitcher Show.
For this year’s banquet, we offer a buffet prepared by the Theater’s excellent cooks, all you care to eat. The main dish will be a choice of roast chicken and/or vegan lasagna (no meat, dairy or eggs). Additional courses include: Italian seasoned baked potato wedges, steamed vegetable medley (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower), warm Italian bread, fresh greens dinner salad with a choice of dressings, fresh fruit,dessert bars, coffee and milk. Ingredients comply with vegan diets (except milk and dessert bars), with butter on the side for non-vegans. A cash-bar will be available.
Please send your reservations right away! Don’t miss your chance to see these wonderful performers.
Reservation Form --- 11th Annual Clean Water Banquet & Benefit Concert, March 21st
Name(s) ___________________________ Date __________________
Address ____________________________ Phone (____)__________
City_____________________________ State ______ Zip Code ___________
Proceeds to benefit the Clean Water Action Council
Enclosed please find $ ___($25/person, $45/couple, $20/students) for #___ Banquet Tickets (includes concert)
Enclosed please find $ ___($15/person) for #_____ Concert Tickets
only (does not include meal).
(Reservations not required for concert tickets only --- seating on
a first-come, first-served basis.)
Mail check or money order to: Clean Water Action Council, 1270
Main Street, Suite 120, Green Bay, WI 54302.
Phone: 920-437-7304. E-mail: cwac@execpc.com
Banquet reservations required by March 18, 2002
Tom Paxton: When it comes to being funny, I think I’ve spent the first thirty years trying to be as funny as Tom Lehrer and the last part will be trying to be as funny as the Berrymans. They don’t come any funnier than that...
Matt Watroba, Sing Out!, Fall 2001: Every new recording is full
of material that stretches and explodes with original ideas and fresh musical
wordplay. It is that distinctive mosaic of melody and lyric that keeps
their fans hanging on every line and sometimes every word. Lou and
Peter Berryman win new fans
everywhere they go. And the old fans? They keep coming to hear the
new songs and to watch the astonished reaction of the folks hearing this
delightful duo for the first time.
The San Francisco Bay Chronicle: Once in a while a song comes along that so successfully crystallizes familiar thoughts that you feel you could have written it yourself...A lot of people feel that way about [Lou & Peter’s] “Why Am I Painting the Living Room”.
Victoria (BC) Times Colonist: ...Quirky, wry, ironic humor. Peter’s highly literate lyrics and skewed perspective are unique. When enhanced by Lou’s soundscapes, the duo makes magic. By the time the Berrymans encored with their wistful, fumbling love song “We Strolled On the Beach” I was in love too. I’m a fan of this clever duo now.
The Boston Globe: Lou & Peter Berryman write very eccentric, very funny satirical songs...delightful Wisconsin performers... If Tom Lehrer had grown up in America’s Dairyland, his songs might sound like theirs.
Pete Seeger: Lou and Peter Berryman! Long may they wave. Their F-Word song “A Chat With Your Mother” is one of the great American folksongs of the 20th Century.
Robert J. Lertsema, WGBH, Boston: It is very rare that I ever put on a recording for the 1st time and actually break out in audible laughter. I thought Lou & Peter’s DOUBLE YODEL was fantastic.
The Winnipeg Folk Festival: Sharing a fascination with language and a unique perspective on the world, Lou & Peter Berryman offer refreshing observations on the human condition in a style blending folk music with musical comedy. They manage to translate it all into hilarious songs that have become instant classics. Songs that feel like they had you in mind when the words and music came together.
10# FIDDLE, Lansing, MI: Their songs and performances are unfailingly wacky, and just as dependably 100% right. No one writes songs like Peter and Lou, but everyone recognizes the truth and the clear vision behind each one.
The Freight & Salvage, Berkeley, CA: This once-married duo from the upper Midwest is among the most entertaining acts we’ve ever had at the Freight. Their songs are crafted from often unpromising raw material (sports headlines, mother love, state pride) but invariably as the lyrics unroll the audience begins to roll on the floor...
Mike Agranoff, THE FOLK PROJECT, Basking Ridge, NJ: Peter
& Lou Berryman... have obviously achieved a classic level of comedic
songwriting in the ranks of Tom Lehrer or Flanders & Swann. Responsible
for such gems as “A Chat with your Mother” (the “F”-word song), “The Speculator”,
“Why
AmI Painting the Living Room?” and dozens more, they have identified
the exact point where the English language meets the funny bone, with a
special flair for songs in which two voices singing entirely different
things somehow manage to mesh into one cacophonic, yet clear, message.
Golden Link Folk Singing Society, Rochester NY: It is given to few songwriters to make songs that become instant classics; the Berrymans have produced dozens —’ taint fair. No one writes songs like the Berrymans, but everyone recognizes the truth and the clear vision behind each one.
Toxic Chemical Study Sounds Warning for Children
A recent and large study of the toxic chemicals in the bodies of Americans
found encouraging evidence that levels of lead, pesticides and tobacco
chemicals have declined over the past decade, due largely to government
regulations and bans.
But the report released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), showed that children are more exposed than adults. And
most Americans carry of host of toxic chemicals in our bodies, with potential
health effects.
A total of 89 of the 116 toxic chemicals tested were found to be present in at least some study participants. Some of the toxins, such as PCBs, are already restricted or banned, but remain problems.
Children, with their developing bodies and brains, are far more vulnerable
to ingested toxins than adults. For example, children
showed far higher blood levels of pesticides and of a biomarker for cigarette
smoke exposure - twice as high as non-smoking adults. Environmental
tobacco smoke is known to be associated with sudden infant death syndrome,
ear infections, and respiratory infections in children.
“We do not have new health effects information coming out from this
report,” added Dr. Richard Jackson, director of CDC’s National Center for
Environmental Health. “It would not be possible to say that we have a new
understanding of health effects from exposure to chemicals.”
But CDC officials are clearly concerned about the report’s findings.
“This country spends $1.4 trillion every year on health costs,” said
Dr. John Balbus, director of the environmental health program at Environment
Defense. “We don’t know exactly what proportion of those costs are due
to environmental exposures, but we do know that health costs related to
these exposures are unnecessary and can be prevented.”
The Second National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals
cost the federal government some $6.5 million over two years. It analyzed
blood and urine samples that were collected from some 2,500 participants
who are part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The
participants represent a cross section of the U.S. population for the years
1999 and 2000.
A similar Environmental Working Group (EWG) report was issued recently
in partnership with Mt. Sinai School of Community Medicine and Commonweal.
It was a smaller study, but looked at many more chemicals.
It found that its nine subjects showed evidence of exposure to an average
of 91 compounds, many of which did not exist 75 years ago.
The nine individuals were tested for 210 chemicals, which EWG says
is the largest suite of industrial chemicals ever surveyed.
In total, the nine subjects carried 76 chemicals linked to cancer. Participants
carried a total of 48 PCBs, which were banned in the U.S. in 1976 but are
still used in other countries, and persist in the environment for decades.
For more information
The CDC’s report is available online:
http://www.cdc.gov/exposurereport
The EWG’s report can be found at: http://www.ewg.org
Brown County 3rd Statewide in Respiratory Pollutants
Brown County ranks 3rd for pollution linked to respiratory problems
in Wisconsin. From 1987 to 2000, more than 21 million pounds of respiratory
toxins were released into Brown County’s air and water according to a new
report released by the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group (WISPIRG).
This equals approximately 617 dump truck loads.
WISPIRG’s report, Toxic Releases and Health: A Review of Pollution
Data and Current Knowledge on the Health Effects of Toxic Chemicals, is
a first ever analysis by health effects of air and water releases reported
by industry to the EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory Program from 1987 to 2000.
The review of these data demonstrates the degree to which toxic substances
with links to serious health problems are released into the environment.
“Polluters in Wisconsin discharge millions of pounds of toxic pollution
while the people of Wisconsin have no knowledge of how it is affecting
their health,” stated Rebecca Katers, Executive Director of Clean Water
Action Council, at a local news conference helping to distribute
the WISPIRG report.
It’s not surprising that both the DNR and EPA consider Brown County
to have an unusually high cancer risk due to air pollution, at 1-in-a-1,000
risk. (And this is likely an understatement, knowing how the agencies
conduct risk assessments.)
Nationwide these toxic releases are concentrated in a small number
of communities. In 2000, 76% of air and water releases of chemicals
linked to reproductive harm occurred in just ten zip codes. Often,
a few companies are doing the most damage.
In Wisconsin, Prairie du Chien received more than 82% of all reproductive
toxins released within the state in 2000, from 3M Corporation.
In general, the majority of Wisconsin’s toxic releases occur in the eastern-southeastern
quadrant of the state, including the Fox Valley and Green Bay.
Brown Type of Pounds“In 2000, over 50% of the respiratory toxins released in Brown County were released in the 54304 zip code alone. In addition, Brown County received over 800,000 pounds of suspected neurological toxicants during the same time period,” reported Katers. “Fort James Operating Co., now Georgia Pacific Corporation, was responsible for over 50% of those respiratory toxins and over 200,000 pounds of neurological toxins (nerve poisons).”
County Health Released
Rank* Effect in 20003rd Respiratory 2,105,234
7th Neurological 816,719
7th Cancer-causing 79,252
35th Developmental 3,896
5th Reproductive 1,049* out of 72 counties in Wisconsin
For the first time, the Inventory included data on the release of dioxins, which are persistent neurological, respiratory, cancer-causing, developmental, and reproductive toxicants in tiny doses. Dioxins are a hundred times more toxic than PCBs, and also accumulate in sediment, fish and ducks. There are no “safe” levels of dioxin exposure. Local sources of dioxin include the De Pere Foundry, Georgia-Pacific Corporation, Pulliam Power Plant, and Procter & Gamble Paper Products Co.
A major drawback of the Inventory is the self-reporting basis of the data and the lack of government verification. For example, DePere Foundry reported a large dioxin release in Brown County, which the DNR did not check (... not a very secure feeling...) It turns out that the Foundry’s engineer miscalculated and reported 2,000 times more dioxin than he should have. We dutifully reported this large release at our news conference and had to issue a retraction when DNR staff gleefully told us that we made a mistake. It made us look careless, though we were accurately reporting government data.
WISPIRG’s research also showed that the public lacks information on how toxic pollution affects human health because few states track the public’s exposure to toxic discharges or the rates of potentially related chronic diseases. For example: although we know that nearly 20 million pounds of neurological toxicants were released into Wisconsin’s air and water in 2000, we still cannot tell exactly who has suffered from it, or where.
Chronic disease rates are on the rise - recent studies prove cancer rates have continued to rise over the last 40 years, and autism rates have increased 10-fold since the 1980s.
Medical care for people with chronic diseases costs $750 billion each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. In 2000, a study published by the New England Journal of Medicine found that environmental factors play a greater role in the development of some cancers than genetics.
Currently only three states, Massachusetts, California, and Iowa, have high-level cancer and birth defect registries and systematically track asthma. No state in the nation systematically tracks such other chronic diseases as autism, and no state tracks the potential environmental exposures linked with these chronic diseases. Wisconsin currently tracks cancer and asthma and is scheduled to start tracking birth defects this year.
Tracking disease is a cornerstone for preventing disease. Currently, the Centers for Disease Control successfully tracks infectious disease, such as West Nile virus and HIV, allowing Wisconsinites to know how many people currently have the disease. Unfortunately, we do not track chronic disease across the country in the same way.
While the chemicals covered in this study were linked to various serious health consequences, this report covered less than one percent of the estimated 80,000 chemicals on the market today. U.S. law also makes it difficult for a chemical that poses a health threat to be banned or restricted. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency has only restricted the use of nine toxic chemicals out of the thousands that potentially pose a danger to human health.
During 2002, Congress approved funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to award 20 grants to state and municipal public health departments to either improve or initiate health tracking programs in those cities and states. Wisconsin received one of these grants.
During the 107th Congress, the Senate awarded an increase in funding for these health tracking programs, but the House failed to approve the relevant Appropriations bill. The Senate will be required to reconsider the funding for health tracking this month, and could increase funding to make more grants available to more states.
WISPIRG applauded Representative Tammy Baldwin for co-sponsoring legislation in the 107th Congress introduced by Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to set up a nationwide network for tracking chronic diseases. This network would expand the monitoring of human exposure to toxic chemicals as well as track chronic diseases such as asthma, cancer, birth defects and neurological conditions.
The entire report is available online at http://www.uspirg.org, along with maps and detailed data sheets specific to Wisconsin.
1. Establish a nationwide health tracking network, to track chronic diseases such as asthma, cancer, birth defects and Alzheimer’s.Clean Water Action Council Recommendations2. Expand monitoring of human exposure to toxic chemicals and other potentially-related environmental factors. Legislation is being introduced in Congress
3. Establish better chemical regulation for protecting the public from hazardous chemicals. Of 80,0000 chemicals currently on the market, approximately 85% are missing basic information on potential health effects. Approximately 1,400 known hazardous chemicals are on the market, but current law makes it difficult to restrict or prohibit their use.
1. Charge for pollution Add surcharges to pollution permits for air, solid waste, and water, to cover comprehensive nationwide monitoring and health effects studies. Add fees to automobile and truck licenses to fund these programs as well, because vehicle emissions are an additional major source of toxic air emissions.Up to Top
The fees will help discourage pollution and reward cleaner sources.2. Enforce permits. The state has been very lax in monitoring pollution sources or enforcing permit requirements. Public health protection requires much more.
Leaders of Wisconsin environmental organizations recently highlighted key needs in the state budget:
1. Raise Air Permit Fees So DNR Can Issue Permits and Conduct InspectionsWhat You Can DoDNR’s clean air program has been decimated by lack of funding. Wisconsin has the worst permit issuance rate in the Midwest. As of Dec. 1, 2002, 280 of the state’s largest polluters lacked permits, including paper mills, power plants, and incinerators. Federal law required all permits be issued by April 1998. Raising permit fees and restoring staffing would be a major step in protecting air in Wisconsin communities. The current fee is $35.71/ton of pollution with a cap of 5,000 tons. The cap now allows 16 major polluters (large power utilities and paper makers) to avoid $6.6 million in costs. Locally, G-P (Fort James) saved $263,557, Thilmany (IP) saved $116,629, and WPS (Pulliam Power Plant) saved $154,446.
Proposal: Raise funding from $9.9 million to $17.2 million. Either remove the 5,000 ton cap and increase fees by $1.48/ton, or maintain cap and raise fees by $26.46/ton.2. Increase Landfill Tip FeesWisconsin had the first statewide mandatory recycling program in the country, and we are recycling over 40 percent of our waste. Tipping fee revenue helps communities run their recycling programs and discourages out-of-state garbage coming to our landfills.
Proposal: Raise tipping fees to $10 per ton from the current $3 per ton. This additional $42 million in revenue should be used to support and expand local recycling programs.3. Revise Motorboat Fuel Gas Tax Formula To Protect Clean WaterAs a result of an outdated and inaccurate estimate, money that should be counted for clean water programs is being used for road construction and maintenance. Fixing the formula would shift $17 million from roads to lake and river protection programs.
Proposal: Revise the motor fuel formula to accurately reflect actual usage by motorboats by increasing the amount estimated per motorboat to 100 gallons annually.4. Maintain Wisconsin’s Leadership On Energy Conservation and EfficiencyThe State’s Focus on Energy program results in lower consumer costs and substantial environmental benefits, including fewer new power plants. Many businesses around the state are participating in this program. Every dollar invested yields $1.90 in savings.
Proposal: Maintain the current level of funding for this program.
Write to your elected representatives and tell them what you think about these budget items.
Write to:
Governor Jim Doyle
Room 115 East, State Capitol
Madison, WI 53702
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)
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