Promise of Clean Water Act unfulfilled

More protections needed for Wisconsin's waterways

We've come a long way since 1972, when the Clean Water Act promised clean, safe water for all Americans. Yet the promise is still unkept. A recent investigation by The New York Times found sewage overflowing treatment systems, farm runoff polluting wells in Wisconsin and scores of illegal polluters escaping punishment.

Following this national attention on our state's water quality problems, Wisconsin Environment released a report in October 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 by compiling toxic chemical releases reported to the U.S. EPA's Toxics Release Inventory for 2007, the most recent data available.

The report found that 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. 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.

The Wisconsin River has suffered from 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 called on industrial facilities to reduce their toxic discharges and for tougher enforcement from the EPA. We also called for policies to ensure the Clean Water Act applies to all of our waterways, including thousands of headwaters and small streams for which jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act has been jeopardized in recent court decisions.