Madison, WI – Following recent national coverage in the New York Times and Washington Post on the state’s water quality problems, Wisconsin Environment released a new report today showing that industrial facilities dumped 4.1 million pounds of toxic chemicals into Wisconsin waterways.
“Wisconsin’s rivers, lakes, and drinking water need to be protected, not polluted,” said Dan Kohler, Director of Wisconsin Environment. “This report shows that polluters continue to use our waterways as dumping grounds for their toxic chemicals.”
The Wisconsin Environment report, Wasting Our Waterways: Industrial Toxic Pollution and the Unfulfilled Promise of the Clean Water Act documents and analyzes the dangerous levels of pollutants discharged in waters in Wisconsin and across the county by compiling toxic chemical releases reported to the U.S. EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory for 2007, the most recent data available.
Major findings of the report include:
- The Wisconsin River received the most toxic discharges in the state, with 1.5 million pounds discharged in 2007, ranking it 38th in the nation for most toxic discharges.
- McCain Foods in Plover was the largest polluter of the Wisconsin River, discharging approximately 553,000 pounds of toxic chemicals.
- Industrial facilities discharged approximately 10,475 pounds of chemicals linked to cancer and 683 pounds of chemical linked to developmental disorders into the Wisconsin River.
Industrial pollution on the Wisconsin River has led to frequent fish kills and a fish consumption advisory for walleye, white bass and lake sturgeon due to the high levels of mercury and PCBs.
Wisconsin Environment’s report summarizes the discharge of cancer-causing chemicals, chemicals that persist in the environment, and chemicals with the potential to cause reproductive problems ranging from birth defects to reduced fertility. Among the toxic chemicals discharged by facilities are lead, mercury, and dioxin. When dumped into waterways, these toxic chemicals contaminate drinking water and are absorbed by the fish that people eventually eat. Exposure to these chemicals is linked to cancer, developmental disorders, and reproductive disorders.
“There are common-sense steps that should be taken to turn the tide against toxic pollution of our waters,” added Kohler. “We need clean water now, and we need the federal government to act to protect our health and our environment.”
In order to curb the toxic pollution threatening Wisconsin’s waters Wisconsin Environment recommends the following:
- Pollution Prevention: Industrial facilities should reduce their toxic discharges in to waterways by switching from hazardous chemicals to safer alternatives.
- Tough permitting and enforcement: EPA and state agencies should issue permits with tough, numeric limits for each type of toxic pollution discharged, ratchet down those limits over time, and enforce those limits with credible penalties, not just warning letters.
- Protect all waters: The federal government should adopt policies to clarify that the Clean Water Act applies to all of our waterways. This includes the thousands of headwaters and small streams for which jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act has been called into question, as a result of recent court decisions.
"We urge Congress and the President to listen to the public’s demands for clean water. They should act to protect all of our lakes, rivers and streams from toxic pollution," concluded Kohler.
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Wisconsin Environment is a state-based, citizen-funded environmental group working for clean air, clean water, and open space. www.wisconsinenvironment.org
Wasting-Our-Waterways.pdf