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Jan. 26, 2006
FMR challenges airport's wastewater permit
Journal Sentinel article
Jan. 17, 2006
Lynn Broaddus speaks at North Shore Environmental Round
Table
Lynn Broaddus, PhD, Executive Director of Friends of
Milwaukee Rivers, spoke at the North Shore
Environmental Round Table on the subject of “The Great Lakes
– St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact: How
will the newly-signed historic agreement impact the Lake
Michigan and Milwaukee River Watersheds?"
Broaddus summarized the provisions of the
Compact, as signed by the Council of Great Lakes Governors
last month, and legislative considerations recommended by
Wisconsin conservation groups.
Jan. 17, 2006
Fix the system to keep rainwater out
When something seems too good to be true, it
usually is. Recently, attention has been directed to the
idea that sewage from the suburbs, or ‘separated sewers’,
doesn’t differ much from the sewage in most parts of the
city of Milwaukee, where the sewage is intentionally
combined with stormwater. So why not abandon long-standing
federal regulation and treat both types of sewage overflows
the same?
On the surface, this seems like an idea with merit. That is,
until you look a little deeper.
The real problem is the increasing amount of rainwater
getting into the sewage conveyance pipes. Both the state
audit of MMSD in 2002, and the city of Milwaukee’s audit in
2004 pointed to the growing problem of infiltration and
inflow, also known as ‘I/I’. When rainwater gets into pipes
designed to carry only sewage, it quickly overwhelms the
system and leads to the sewer overflows we all dread.
William Mielke, a Pewaukee-based engineer, and some MMSD
leaders present us with a false choice: accept sanitary
sewer overflows or spend another billion on a new deep
tunnel. But there is a more sensible choice that merits
consideration: fix the existing system so that rainwater
stays out of the sewage pipes. Then, our sewage system will
easily be able to treat our waste rather than dump it in our
rivers and streams.
Journal Sentinel letter to the editor
Jan. 13, 2006
Savings and cleaner water?
Journal Sentinel editorial
Jan. 9, 2006
Violating Clean Water Act not a solution
The Journal Sentinel ran an article yesterday
suggesting that MMSD's sewage dumping problem could be
reduced by erasing the distinction between separate and
combined sewers. This is not a viable solution to
overflow problems because it means violating the Clean Water
Act, a piece of legislation that protects our waters and
public health.
Combined sewers, such as the sewer system in
most of Metro-Milwaukee, hold a mixture of sewer and
stormwater, while the separate sewers found in the suburbs
are pure sewer, making overflows especially toxic.
Separate sewer dumping is illegal under the Clean Water Act,
while there is a limited amount of dumping allowed from
combined sewers, since their content is generally less
toxic.
Some
public officials think that we shouldn’t distinguish between
SSOs and CSOs because they often contain similar amounts of
storm water during major storms. FMR believes that this
further justifies current efforts by the municipalities in
the separated sewer areas to reduce the amount of clean
rainwater getting into the sanitary sewers during rain
events. This will ultimately have the greatest effect of
improving water quality and minimizing the costs of projects
aimed at ending illegal sewage dumping.
Friends of
Milwaukee's Rivers
supports looking for cost-effective ways to treat our sewage
and improve water quality in our local rivers and Lake
Michigan. We also support analyzing MMSD’s current deep
tunnel reserve policy to maximize storage of sewage and
stormwater and minimize overflows. However, there is an
important legal distinction between separate sewer overflows
and combined sewer overflows—namely that separate sewer
overflows are illegal under the Clean Water Act.
If MMSD is
allowed to violate the Clean Water Act then other
communities might also seek exemptions from the law.
In the long run this will only hurt our rivers and damage
our health.
Journal Sentinel article
Jan. 6, 2006
Riverkeeper responds to threats
During the past few months, Friends of Milwaukee's Rivers
has responded to several major threats to our rivers,
including:
Erosion into the Menomonee River from the Hart Park Flood
Management Project
After receiving several calls of
concern from our members about failing erosion controls in
Hart Park and conducting our own site inspections, we
expressed our concerns to DNR and MMSD staff. DNR ordered
additional erosion control and sediment basins at the site.
We requested an on-site meeting with public officials and
the contractors to ensure that these protections were
implemented. DNR is now conducting regular inspections. FMR
is also working with The Park People
and other groups to ensure that the shoreline stabilization
is as aesthetically pleasing as possible. We hope to involve
our members in re-planting efforts in the spring.
I-794 demolition debris entering the Milwaukee River
While paddling with a board member and film crew from
Outdoor Wisconsin, we noticed large chunks of debris
entering the river from the demolition of the I-794
overpass, which was both an environmental and safety
concern! After reporting this to DNR, swift action was taken
by DNR and DOT staff to ensure that this does not happen
again.
Sediment plume in Honey Creek
After receiving several calls about a significant sediment
plume in Honey Creek, we inspected the Creek on several
different occasions, but were unable to find the source.
During our Hart Park meeting, the plume was extending all
the way into the Menomonee River and DNR staff were able to
trace the sediment to a broken water main in West Allis,
which has since been corrected.
Jan. 4, 2006
Great Lakes need protection
If there are any questions about
whether or not our Great Lakes need protection, a Journal
Sentinel article from the December 11 business section
should have ended the debate. In the piece, a local
financial advisor states that the water in our Great Lakes
is set to become the next oil or gold. Our region 'will
emerge as the OPEC of water.'
Unlike oil or gold, however, water is not a mineral waiting
to be extracted. Water belongs to the public as a whole, and
is used and reused not only for drinking, sanitation, and
industrial purposes, but for recreation, transportation,
supporting a strong fishery, and more.
Much work has gone into creating the Annex agreements
recently signed by Gov. Doyle and the other Great Lakes
governors and premiers. But this document alone will not
protect our precious lakes from being exploited by those who
seek short-term profits at the expense of the public's
long-term interests. Wisconsin needs to enact accompanying
legislation that will protect our lakes from being lost one
bottle at a time.
Journal Sentinel article |
