Clean Water News

As the new home of WISPIRG's environmental work, Wisconsin Environment can be contacted with any questions regarding this report.  

MADISON—More than 44 percent of industrial and municipal facilities across Wisconsin exceeded their Clean Water Act permit limits between January 2002 and June 2003, according to a new report "Troubled Waters: Analysis of Clean Water Act Compliance, January 2002-June 2003," released today by WISPIRG.

"Our decision-makers should be taking strong action to address this illegal pollution, but the Bush administration has proposed slashing the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) enforcement budget for fiscal year 2005 and weakening critical Clean Water Act programs," charged WISPIRG State Director Jennifer Giegerich. "At a time when our leaders should be looking for solutions, the Bush administration has proposed taking environmental cops off the beat and allowing more—not less—pollution to enter our waterways," continued Giegerich.

While the 1972 Clean Water Act has made strides in cleaning up U.S. waterways, the law's original goal of making all U.S. Waterways safe for fishing, swimming and other uses by 1983 has not been attained. Using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), WISPIRG obtained data on facilities' compliance with the Clean Water Act between January 1, 2002 and June 30, 2003. WISPIRG researchers found that:

­ Nationally, 60 percent of all major facilities discharged pollution in excess of their permit limits at least once during the 18-month period studied. The average facility in violation exceeded its permit limit by more than 600 percent, or six times the legal limit.

­ On average, Wisconsin facilities exceeding their Clean Water Act permits did so by 99 percent, or by 2 times their legal limit.

­ Polluters in Wisconsin reported 11 instances in which they exceeded their Clean Water Act permit by at least five times the legal limit.

­ Superior Sewage Disposal System had the highest number of total exceedances with 21 exceedances recorded. Superior recorded exceedances for chlorine, phosphorus, BOD, and total suspended solids, which were released into Superior Bay. On January 31, 2002, the Superior Sewage Disposal System exceeded their permit for the concentrated maximum of chlorine by 1111 percent.

­ Other city wastewater facilities that recorded numerous exceedances include the Village of Jackson (12), Fond du Lac (11), Ripon (7), Oregon (7), Sun Prairie (6) Richland Center (6), and Rhinelander (6).

­ The industrial facility with the highest number of total exceedances was Murphy Oil USA Inc. in Superior with 7 recorded exceedances. Murphy Oil USA Inc. exceeded the permits for PH, BOD, and total suspended solids.

­ Other industrial facilities that recorded numerous exceedances include We Energies Pleasant Prairie Plant (5), Appleton Papers (3), Domtar in Nekoosa (3), and Vulcan Chemicals in Port Edwards (3).

Giegerich noted that these findings are likely conservative, since the data that WISPIRG analyzed includes only "major" facilities and does not include pollution discharged by hundreds of thousands of minor facilities across the country.

WISPIRG called on the Bush administration to back off its efforts to weaken the Clean Water Act and to commit to strengthening, rather than weakening, enforcement of this landmark legislation. In order to achieve the goals of the Clean Water Act, WISPIRG recommended the following:

­ Fully fund EPA's enforcement program to ensure that we have enough environmental cops on the beat to identify and punish polluters violating their Clean Water Act permits.

­ Strengthen the Clean Water Act by setting mandatory minimum penalties, tightening permitted pollution limits, revoking permits from repeat violators and allowing citizens full access to the courts.

­ Maintain and expand the public's right to know. The public should have full access to detailed and easily searchable information about enforcement of the Clean Water Act and pollution entering local waterways.

"Now more than ever, the Bush administration should act in the best interest of the environment and public health and hold polluters accountable to the Clean Water Act," concluded WISPIRG's Giegerich.