January 25, 2001

Green Bay, WI --- Over the past year, more than 10,000 signatures have
been collected on a Fox River petition,  from citizens in several
communities in Northeast Wisconsin.  The petition states:

"We Support Fox River Clean-Up"

"We, the undersigned, want the Fox River cleaned as quickly 
as possible.  The 600 pounds of PCBs which flow down the Fox River   
each year must be stopped.  The Fox River PCBs affect the entire   
Bay of Green Bay and Lake Michigan.  Scientific evidence shows PCBs   
can damage the immune system, reduce  intelligence and change   
behavior in children.  PCBs may also cause cancer and birth   
defects.  We demand a strong clean-up plan that fully protects the   
health of humans and wildlife." 

"Protect Our Children's Health!"
"We should be able to eat unlimited fish and duck meals with NO health
risks."

"This petition shows the public is eager for a full clean-up of the
Fox River," stated Rebecca Katers, of Green Bay, Executive Director
of Clean Water Action Council.  "A partial, or slow, cleanup will not
be acceptable."

The Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources and U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency are expected to propose the final comprehensive Fox
River sediment cleanup plan at the end of February.   A public
comment period and hearings will follow.

"We're sending copies of these petitions to key decision-makers in
state, local and federal agencies," added Thomas Kees, of Neenah,
President of the Council.  "They need to know they have public 
support for an aggressive cleanup plan." 

"This petition is a strong mandate for action, under both the
Superfund program and the Natural Resources Damage Assessment
program," added Curt Andersen, of Little Suamico, of the Council's 
Board of Directors.

"The DNR has refused to hold public hearings about secret settlements 
they've made with Fox River industries.  This petition is a reminder 
that the public is very interested, wants to be heard, and wants 
stronger agreements than we're getting," concluded Alice McCombs, of 
Shawano, Vice President of the Council

PETITION METHODS AND DETAILS:

 From August, 1999 to July, 2000, our group circulated this petition
 through the use of our small door-to-door canvass of staff people who
 visited residents at their homes in communities throughout Northeast
 Wisconsin, from Oshkosh north to Sturgeon Bay.   These visits 
included discussions of the Fox River PCB problem and proposed 
options for cleanup.   From this experience we know the vast majority 
of local residents strongly favor river cleanup.  They also feel the 
polluters should be required to pay for the cleanup.

These petition results should not be construed to mean that 
only 10,000 residents support cleanup.  In fact, the 
results understate total public opinion in our area, for the 
following reasons:

1.  Our canvass did not visit all Northeast Wisconsin communities,
only some, with special emphasis in Fox River Valley communities.  
If the petitions don't include anyone from a certain town or village,
it's because we never visited it.   Every community we visited had
residents supporting the petition.

2.  Our canvass could not reach all neighborhoods in the communities
we visited.   If no signatures are shown on certain streets, it's most
likely because we did not visit those streets.

3.  Rural residents were not included, due to the difficulty and high
costs of reaching dispersed homes.

4.  Many people were not home on the nights we visited their
neighborhood.  Sometimes 50-75% of residents were temporarily away,
but we could not afford to go back to try again another night.

5.  Some people were afraid to answer the door at night, so we could
not talk with them.

6.  Some people were busy or didn't like canvassers, so they did not
take time to read the petition.

7.  Some people were afraid to sign the petition because they thought
it obligated them to make donations, or would result in their names
being added to a phone or mail solicitation list.  (Though we assured
them this was not the case.)

8.  Many people live in security-locked apartment buildings or similar
closed neighborhoods, where we could not visit them.

9.  Only one adult resident of each dwelling generally signed the
petition, because others were busy or absent.   Children were not
solicited door-to-door and rarely signed.

10. Many people who worked for the paper industry, or in other closely
related jobs, were afraid to sign the petition, because they feared
reprisal.  (Though they often told us they agreed with us, appreciated
our work, and would give us anonymous donations.)

11. During the year we circulated the petition, the 7 paper companies
launched a media campaign to frighten people about the supposed
dangers of dredging.   And a dredging demonstration project (56/57)
was bungled, with heavy media exposure.  This worried some residents
who otherwise supported Fox River cleanup.  They were reluctant to
sign the petition if it could result in dredging, until they could
study the issue more.

12. Our crew was small (2 to 5 people) and only part-time, visiting
neighborhoods on 2 to 4 weekday evenings each week, between the hours
of 5:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.

Despite these caveats, we found most residents were familiar with the
Fox River situation, and strongly supported our petition.   Of the
residents who actually read the petition, it seemed more than 90%
were willing, even eager, to sign it.  

BACKGROUND ON CLEAN WATER ACTION COUNCIL:

Clean Water Action Council (CWAC) is a local non-profit citizen
organization with approximately 12,000 individual members and
contributors throughout Northeast Wisconsin.   We were founded in
1985 by local citizens when the impacts of PCB contamination on the
Fox River became more widely known.  One of our primary goals was to
clean up and prevent toxic contamination of the Fox River and other
local waterbodies.  

Rebecca Leighton Katers
Clean Water Action Council of N.E. Wisconsin
1270 Main Street, Suite 120 
Green Bay, WI 54302 
Ph: 920-437-7304 
FAX: 920-437-7326
CleanWater@cwac.net
 

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