The New York Times had a really important feature this weekend about the lapses in groundwater pollution enforcement as part of an ongoing series on water toxicity. The article is comprehensive, focusing on state and federal efforts (or the lack thereof), but not surprisingly centers around the poor, coal-heavy state of West Virginia.
The article also includes an impressive Google Maps mashup of registered facilities allowing readers to find violators in their area. Let me strongly suggest that you visit the site, familiarize yourself with local polluters, and make some noise. Power to the people - I’m glad to know who’s violating in Red Hook.
Naturally I turned my attention to Wisconsin, my home state. As you can see from the image above, Wisconsin registered zero/zilch/nada on the violators scale. I quickly clicked through other states looking for similar records, but each and every other state registered violations. Every state except Wisconsin. Even California.
Impossible? How could that be? Some sort of statistical fluke? Corruption? Not likely. Maybe it’s because Wisconsin has an incredibly powerful state-version of the EPA, known as the Department of Natural Resources. When it was formed in 1967, the Wisconsin State Legislature knew that environmental conservation was too important to be left up to the fleeting whims of rotating elected officials. As a result, the DNR acts as a separate branch of government. Separate from the Legislature. Separate from the Courts. Separate from the Executive branch. How separate? The DNR actually sets and enforces it’s own policy, not laws set by the legislature. Pretty cool. Pretty progressive. Anyone who has ever recreated in Wisconsin’s great outdoors should appreciate their good work.
The Times also asked an official from each state to clarify it’s position regarding the article’s findings. Adam Collins of the Wisconsin DNR wrote the response, including the following:
We have the best program in the nation and a strong reputation for our clean water efforts. We were one of the first states to implement Clean Water Act permitting and the first state to have secondary treatment (for) all municipal wastewater. Secondary treatment is additional biological treatment that results in a higher level of water quality.
Indeed we do. God bless the DNR, and God bless Wisconsin.
