Water Quality Listening Session with US EPA Region V Administrator Robert Kaplan

Pat Wilson and La Crosse County Board member Mike Giese traveled to Eau Claire to make statements at the Nov. 15 listening session on Wisconsin water quality issues with US EPA Region V Administrator Robert Kaplan and Region V water quality specialist Christopher Korleski.  The Listening Session was sponsored by the Sierra Club John Muir Chapter, Midwest Environmental Advocates, River Alliance of Wisconsin and other groups.  There was a standing room only crowd in the lecture hall, with over 200 people from all over Wisconsin.  They wanted to tell the EPA administrators about the water quality problems in Wisconsin and how it affected them, and to ask that the EPA do what it can to help.  Mike Giese and Pat Wilson talked about the problems with WDNR enforcement of the Wisconsin Pollution Discharge Elimination System permits, specifically in La Crosse County.   There were complaints of polluted lakes, streams, and well water.  There were complaints about CAFOs and manure spreading and karst topography.  There were complaints about the proliferation of high capacity wells and the effects on water tables and stream flow.  There were complaints about algal blooms and health advisories about swimming in lakes.  There were complaints about sand mines and siltation in trout streams.  But most of all, there were complaints about the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and their lack of action to address any of these issues in a state that’s “open for business” at any cost.  The EPA was asked to step in and enforce federal clean water regulations.

The session was scheduled for 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. but went to 8:15 p.m. so everyone could speak.  The EPA administrators thanked the group for their comments and said that this kind of session was a big help to them in doing their jobs.