Monthly archive

Share Your Concerns with MMSD

September 28, 2011

sewer outfall-eddee

The Milwaukee Metropoliton Sewage District will be holding Public Meetings to get citizen input on the following dates & times:

Monday, October 10th, 8:30 a.m.
District Headquarters, 260 W. Seeboth, Milwaukee
-and-
Monday, October 24th, 8:30 a.m.
District Headquarters, 260 W. Seeboth, Milwaukee

The purpose of the hearings is to review the District’s 2012 Proposed Operations & Maintenance and Capital Budgets and to receive comments from residents and taxpayers. A summary of the budgets as proposed is attached below in a PDF.  
The District’s 2012 Proposed Combined Operations & Maintenance and Capital Budgets will be available for viewing between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at the District.

The 2012 Proposed Budgets will be available electronically at the District’s website, www.mmsd.com, beginning September 5th. Upon reasonable notice, efforts will be made to accommodate the needs of disabled individuals through sign language interpreters or other auxiliary aids.

For additional information to request these services, contact the Commission Secretary, Office of the Commission at 225-2108, (FAX) 272-5227 or write to Office of the Commission, 260 W. Seeboth Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53204-1446.

$20 million Cleanup of PCBs in Lincoln Park Begins

September 26, 2011

Milwaukee Riverkeeper Cheryl Nenn is quoted in a recent article about the Milwaukee River PCB removal.  Great to finally see all that toxic sludge getting hauled out of our rivers!

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[excerpted from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel]

25833154-mjs_river24by Lee Bergquist

It took generations for industrial chemicals to pollute the Milwaukee River, but a project under way in Lincoln Park is taking a big step in removing a toxic legacy of the city's industrial past.

A $20 million cleanup began Sept. 15 to remove pollutants known as polychlorinated biphenyls from sediments of Lincoln Creek and a channel of the Milwaukee River.

Grafton Fish Passage Dead

September 23, 2011

DamLG

Milwaukee Riverkeeper unfortunately reports that the Fish Passage planned to bypass Grafton's Bridge St. Dam on the Milwaukee River is officially not going to happen.

The Grafton Village Board unanimously rejected a DNR permit that required a trap-and-sort portion aimed at stopping invasive species and disease-carrying fish from traveling upstream of the dam.  The restriction, which was not part of original plans for the passage, would have prevented all fish except lake sturgeon from moving through the passage.

RiverWalk Turns 20 and Continues to Grow!

September 20, 2011

[excerpted from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

buildingby Tom Daykin

It seems strange today, with housing, corporate headquarters, restaurants and other developments popping up along Milwaukee's RiverWalk, that it wasn't so long ago when the city turned its back on the waterway that runs through downtown.

But, over the past two decades, the river has been discovered. Much of that change is tied to the Milwaukee RiverWalk District, a public-private group formed to help finance the RiverWalk, and which this weekend celebrates its 20th anniversary.

"I would rank it right at the top of any catalytic project over the last couple of decades," said James T. Barry III, president of Cassidy Turley Barry, a commercial real estate brokerage.

Fix the Laterals

September 20, 2011

Milwaukee Riverkeeper agrees.  Fix the laterals!

MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL EDITORIAL

sewer lateralLeaking private laterals "is a hidden problem," according to Milwaukee Ald. Jim Bohl. "People don't see it." The alderman, a co-chairman of the city's Flooding Study Task Force, is right - most of the time. But area residents certainly became aware of the results of leaking laterals in July 2010, when a deluge of storms flooded streets and basements and spurred creation of Bohl's task force.

Although the problem is hidden, it's serious and it's widespread. To fix it, and mitigate the effects of intense storms, will require a concerted effort by local governments, private residents and the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District.

Crews Removing KK River's Concrete Bed

September 15, 2011

[excerpted from JSOnline.com]

Excavating equipment started breaking apart and removing the 8-inch-thick concrete bed of the Kinnickinnic River on Tuesday, downstream of the S. 6th St. bridge as part of a flood management project.

Concrete slabs that extend 500 feet east of the bridge are to be replaced with large stones by December, said Patrick Elliott, a watercourse project manager with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District.

Speak Out for the Parks & the Rivers

September 14, 2011
The County Board Finance Committee is preparing for the 2012 budget and is interested in hearing from the public as to what priorities they should consider while putting together their version of the budget.
 
You have probably read or heard that the County is facing a $50 million dollar shortfall for 2012 and the Parks System will again be under the knife of potential cuts.  It is extremely important that you, the public, be heard on this issue. 

2 Quick Ways to Help our Waters

September 14, 2011

Help Protect Our Shorelines

A bill will be voted on by the full Assembly that threatens our beautiful Wisconsin shorelines.
 
This bill would broaden the ability developers have to place structures in our waterways – at the expense of the public’s right to have healthy and open lakes, rivers and streams. 

Tell the U.S. Senate to Protect Your Right to Swimmable, Fishable Waters

September 14, 2011

water w rocks-bright

As the assault on clean water continues, the time is NOW to take action to protect the federal Clean Water Act from drastic rollbacks.  The U.S. Senate in developing an Interior/EPA Appropriations Bill with many anti-clean water riders attached. 

We need to contact the members of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, the Environment and Related Agencies let them know that this attack on clean water is wrong.  We also need to support the members who are champions for clean water and call out the members who are supporting this cowardly tactic to gut the Clean Water Act!

Seaway Expansion Abandoned

September 9, 2011

greatlakesfreight

Milwaukee Riverkeeper signed on with 33 conservation groups to a comment letter thanking the U.S.  Army Corps of Engineers’ for abandoning plans to widen and enhance the St. Lawrence Seaway.  About a decade ago, the Corps' suggested expanding the seaway to increase capacity for freight traffic.  Instead, the Corps' now plans to commission a study to further investigate the environmental impacts the shipping industry has had on the Great Lakes.