Polluters Playground: The Push for Mining Undercuts Water Protections Statewide

A few weeks ago we put out the warning that a couple of Governor Walker's "Back to Work Wisconsin" Special Session bills were mining bills in disguise.  Despite denials coming out of the Capitol, we were right.  They're even worse than we expected -- Special Session bills SB 24 and AB 24 to "reform" protections for navigable waters is a real doozy.  In other words, to grease the skids for mining in northern Wisconsin, the bill's sponsors are willing to sacrifice water and land all across the state.

This is why, no matter where you live or how you feel about mining in northern Wisconsin, you should tell your lawmakers to oppose these bills. 

An overarching theme in the bill is rubber-stamping permits on impossibly short timelines for the following activities.  (We also note how these activities maybe, just maybe, have something to do with mining.)

• Taking water out the ground and from rivers (Taconite mining uses lots of water.)
• Building dams (Hmmmm, could that be for mine tailings ponds?)
• Building next to, and on the banks of, navigable waters (Hauling mine waste will need a lot of new roads crossing lots of trout streams.)
• Grading (aka digging for ore?) within close proximity of rivers. 

SB/AB 24 is also chock full of special favors for developers who haven't been able to get their way in the past few years.  If you recall the Green Bay wetland debacle from last spring, where a developer got a state law passed just for him, well, here we go again:

• Need to fill in a lakebed so your condo project can extend out into the water?  Have at it. 
• Been itching to make your pier so big you can dock all six of your boats?  Your wait is almost over. 
• Perturbed you have to get a permit to put a pier over a place fish use to spawn  No more pesky permit for you.

The public hearing for these bills is Wednesday, October 26 at 11:00 a.m. in Room 417 North of the Capitol.  This will be a joint hearing of the both the Assembly and Senate committees on natural resources, which means it will be the only hearing on a bill that will wreak havoc on our waterways across the state.  

SB/AB 24 is such a blatant special interest bill it's shameful, and you need to tell your legislators how you feel.  If you can't make it to the Capitol, call them and tell them loud and clear before Wednesday. 

Or join us at the hearing - the more the merrier.

Phosphorus Fertilizer - Are We Really Talking About This Again?

Two years ago with broad bipartisan support, the state moved to prohibit the use of lawn fertilizer with phosphorus except for very limited circumstances.  While agricultural runoff is still the main source of algae-causing phosphorus pollution, lawn fertilizer plays a significant role too, especially in urban areas and for the northern lakes. A key provision of the law is that phosphorus fertilizer can't be displayed on store shelves but must be requested of a sales clerk for those few circumstances its use is allowed.  The reason is simply human nature - if it's on the shelf, it will end up in the shopping cart.

Now there's an amendment to the law that will allow display of phosphorus lawn fertilizer as long as there's an accompanying sign that says phosphorus pollutes lakes.  And have there been property owners clamoring for easier access to phosphorus fertilizer prompting this change?  Nope, but the fertilizer companies sure do like it.