Oct 28, 2005

FMR responds to Journal Sentinel Editorial

We applaud Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager for her courage in holding the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District to account for polluting Lake Michigan and Milwaukee’s waterways. Our hope is that the Journal Sentinel will do the same, though it’s not doing so now (October 27, “Suit on dumping simply wrong”).

Just over three years ago, the Journal Sentinel editorialized that it disagreed with MMSD’s effort to dismiss litigation as a way to make it accountable to those who treasure Lake Michigan.  Perhaps the Journal Sentinel has flip-flopped because MMSD has gotten better at spin, instead of substance, in the face of wrongdoing.

MMSD is at it again: wasting taxpayer money claiming it’s done nothing wrong when all the science and real-life experience by those who want to enjoy the waters of the region tells us otherwise. What MMSD doesn’t want those of us who use Lake Michigan and Milwaukee’s rivers to remember is that MMSD has violated federal and state law for years and does not want to be held accountable for breaking the law. The fact is, MMSD has squandered taxpayer moneys on lawyers, consultants, and public relations while expecting law enforcement to look the other way as it uses Lake Michigan and Milwaukee’s waters we all love as sewage conduits.  As long as that’s the case, there’s little incentive for MMSD to do the right thing. And guess who pays for that in the long run. The taxpayer.

No amount of MMSD spin erases the fact that last year’s, 1-plus billion gallons of wastewater went into Lake Michigan. That broke the law, plain and simple. Just as plain and simple: every day, MMSD can better use its storage capacity, better maintain its equipment, and stop cutting corners to avoid sewage discharges. And these best practices don’t have to cost money.

MMSD must be held accountable so that it understands that clean water isn’t a luxury. It’s the law and it’s a core value that no amount of public relations gloss can hide. Thank you Attorney General Lautenschager for having the courage to see through the spin.

Oct. 27, 2005

Suit on dumping simply wrong

Journal Sentinel Editorial

Oct. 22, 2005

Crane hauls 12,200 lbs of trash from Kinnickinnic River

Over 80 volunteers participated in Saturday's river cleanup, hauling 12,000 pounds of trash from the polluted waters of the Kinnickinnic River.  A crane was used to lower a dumpster onto an island in the middle of the riverbed, which volunteers quickly filled with shopping carts, tires, and other items.  FMR organized the cleanup in conjunction with Sixteenth Street Community Health Center, United Water, The Sierra Club, and The Bay View Neighborhood Association.

Photo essay

Oct. 14 2005

FMR signs onto Midwest Environmental Advocates comments on DNR's proposed animal feeding regulations

Comments [PDF]

FMR Comments on St. Francis Stormwater Permit

The WPDES municipal stormwater permit for the City of St. Francis would regulate discharge from 23 storm sewer outfalls into Wilson Park Creek, the Kinnickinnic River, and Lake Michigan as well as to groundwater of the Milwaukee River Basin.

The proposed reissuance of this stormwater permit affects the water quality and wildlife habitat of the Kinnickinnic River and Milwaukee River Estuary, which is within FMR's area of concern.  Many of FMR’s constituents are residents of the Kinnickinnic River Watershed, and are concerned about the effects of polluted stormwater runoff from rain and snow melt, illegal spills, WPDES permittees, and fluids from illicit connections.

FMR is concerned that the reissuance of this permit would allow toxic volumes of chloride and other pollutants to be discharged into Lake Michigan and Wilson Park Creek, tributary to the Kinnickinnic River and Milwaukee River Estuary of Concern. The Kinnickinnic River downstream of Chase Avenue and the Milwaukee Estuary are both on the 303(d) pollutant list, and impaired by aquatic toxicity, bacteria, dissolved oxygen, and a fish consumption advisory. 

Allowing the discharge of storm water pollutants without requiring any ambient water quality monitoring has the potential to contribute to impairments and to cause or contribute to violations of water quality standards.

Recent monitoring by USGS and local scientists at UWM have shown extremely high chloride concentrations in local waterways following winter storms and snow melt that far exceed acute toxicity criteria for aquatic life. Chloride can harm the warm water sport fishery of Wilson Park Creek and contribute to impairments in the KK River. Road salt is also known to form complexes with heavy metals, causing harm to aquatic life.

The DNR should set effluent limitations for chloride and associated declumping agents to achieve compliance with water quality standards and St. Francis should
monitor the rate and volume at which these chemicals are reaching local waterways.  FMR also urges the DNR to include guidelines in this permit for applying road salt.