South Milwaukee was in the news a lot this week, including a fun profile of our police records clerk, innovative plans for St. Patrick’s Day at Moran’s Pub, and a pitch to the state around Foxconn …
- Meet “Dangerous” Dan Margetta: South Milwaukee Police Records Clerk is Also a NASCAR Radio Show Producer (NOW)
- Moran’s Pub in South Milwaukee Blowing Out 22nd Annual St. Patrick’s Day Party (OnMilwaukee.com)
- South Milwaukee Mayor Suggested Caterpillar Site for Foxconn (Business Journal)
- Wisconsin’s Last NASCAR Collectible Store in South Milwaukee Closes and Will Reopen as an Antique Shop (NOW)
- Spring Market in South Milwaukee Will Feature Arts, Crafts, Food and More (NOW)
- Tucked Away: Island Jam (Milwaukee Record)
And here are some South Shore headlines …
- New Mayor Promises St. Francis Residents “a Seat at the Table” After His Recall Victory (NOW)
- Wish List to Modernize/Expand Oak Creek Schools Could go to Referendum (NOW)
- Dust Confirmed to be Coal on Oak Creek Homes (NOW)
- IKEA in Oak Creek Set to Open May 16 (NOW)
- Caterpillar Retail Machine Sales up 33 Percent (Peoria Journal-Star)
South Milwaukee Blog 
Interesting article on coal dust showing up in Oak Creek homes. We have had it show up here too since the WE expansion in OC. We get a coating of black dust on our windowsills and during summer when the windows are open its even showed up indoors, all since the WE expansion some few years back. Interesting too that the article says that the air monitoring equipment is set up south of the power plant and that the neighborhood showing contamination is northwest of the plant. WE states there is no problem. Well yeah they say they set up the monitor to the south as that’s the direction the wind is coming from along the lake. At that point there is no contamination as the wind has not yet picked it up and blown it to the north. All this reminds me of what my grandmother once told me about the air being so dirty when she was young in Milwaukee at a time when homes burnt coal for heating , that local women would go outdoors several times a year and scrub down the trees as high as they could reach and then hose it off. I can testify to how dirty one can get when handling coal as back in the very early 1970s I worked for the Milwaukee School Board Repair Division and had to shovel all the leftover coal out from beneath Greenfield School when it was converted to natural gas. It took a week to get it all out of my pores. What is WE going to do to reduce wind borne coal dust contamination in surrounding communities? Is anyone else here in South Milwaukee noticing a black dust buildup on window sills and kitchen counters?
Appreciate your comments and question, Bryce. Assuming our north winds are dominant, I have, along with my neighbor who worked there, attributed the collection of black dust on the house and in the gutters to Appleton’s stacks which were revamped with pollution control equipment in the last five to ten years, but which spewed pretty toxic material (at night) prior to that.
The black dust we are seeing here is happening now. About 5 years ago we had new windows installed and the white inner sills really show up the dust despite being cleaned every other month even in the winter. While its good to know that Appleton installed the technology to clean up their emissions it doesn’t do anything to reduce those from WE which occur every time we get a breeze from the southeast, several times weekly in fact as after dark the wind oft times shifts from there, especially spring and summer.
I went down to 7 mile road and Highway 32 to observe. I was looking to see if the smoke was more gray then white. The winds were blowing toward the South West. It looked to me one of the stacks had much darker color smoke. I am suspecting that a the top scrubber in that stack may have issues.
The unique rule that was agreed is the plants can operate without the scrubbers. If I recall correctly, the environmental impact statement pollution reports stated that most smoke would go out into the lake. The person to contact might be State Senator Chris Larson. He has been active in environmental issues.