Tag Archives: Wisconsin DNR

September 4, 2012 · 10:07 pm

Oak Creek Fish Kill Update: Test Results Are Back, And They Confirm Cause May Never Be Known

I got the following update today on the Oak Creek fish kill from Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources senior fisheries biologist Will Wawrzyn … and, while disappointing, it’s not surprising.

The upshot: Test results from the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District are back, and we’ll likely never know what led the death of hundreds of fish in Oak Creek near 16th and Rawson Avenues in South Milwaukee on August 15.

From the update …

The MMSD maintains an extensive monitoring network in local streams and near-shore Lake Michigan and produce high quality data. I appreciate the assistance they provided during this investigation.

Unfortunately, those results do not suggest any killing agent or decreasing trends in water quality between sample sites. While the list of analytes is extensive, there is an almost infinite number and type of potential killing agents that could have caused the kill. All of the results were within the range of water quality criteria or standards protective of fish and other aquatic life. Unless we hear of an after the fact report by others that may suggest what caused the fish kill, we may never know. I am confident that the fish kill was not caused by natural factors. Extended dry conditions and lack of runoff preceding the incident suggests it was not caused by non-point sources of pollution but most likely a discharge or spill of a toxic substances.

My recommendation if for fisheries staff to conduct brief synoptic electrofishing surveys at multiple sites in the near future to assess short-term impacts of the fish kill and gage the recruitment or repopulation of fish from un-impacted reaches, and make qualitative observations of other aquatic life along the impacted stream reach.

I’ll keep you posted on this, if there are any updates to provide. I hope there are — that we can figure out what happened here and make sure it doesn’t happen again. Here is my previous post on this.

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May 14, 2011 · 9:24 pm

Good Ore Bad? Honadel Pushes Legislation to Streamline Mine Approval Process

South Milwaukee Rep. Mark Honadel has taken an interest in mining … and with his district being home to the world’s largest mining equipment manufacturer, it makes perfect sense.

But is what he’s proposing the right thing to do?

Honadel was quoted extensively in a story on Friday about two proposed, and controversial, mines in northern Wisconsin. One would mine iron ore near the tiny Ashland County town of Mellen, and the other is a gold mine near Wausau.

From the Small Business Times article:

A report released recently by Madison-based NorthStar Economics Inc. estimates the iron ore mine would create 3,175 jobs a year over a two-year period just to build it. Once the mine begins operating it would support 2,834 jobs in a 12-county region, including 700 mining jobs, the NorthStar report says. The total economic impact from the mine’s operations would be $604 million a year, the report says.

“This is such a good thing for Wisconsin,” said state Rep. Mark Honadel, R-South Milwaukee, who plans to introduce legislation to change the approval process for iron ore mines. “It’s going to be great for our state.”

Honadel plans to introduce a bill that would make it easier for iron ore mines, such as the one planned by Gogebic Taconite, to be approved. Iron ore mines should be reviewed in a separate process from how sulfide mine proposals, such as the possible gold mine near Wausau, are reviewed, he said. …

“Having only one set of standards (for all metallic mines) in the state really hinders Wisconsin from becoming a mover and a shaker in the iron ore mining industry,” he said. “If a (mining) company knows there is solid legislation in place and it’s fair for everybody, then they have peace of mind to still invest in Wisconsin.”

Honadel said most of his bill, which will be introduced soon, contains existing DNR regulations for mines.

“We want to keep our good air, water and wetland stuff in place,” he said. “I can’t tell you how excited I am for this bill.”

Honadel said a major reason he is interested in the iron ore mine proposal, which is located far from his district, is because South Milwaukee-based Bucyrus International Inc. plans to sell equipment for the mine.

The economic benefit the state would receive from an iron ore mine would be significant, Honadel said. Bucyrus, which is being acquired by Peoria, Ill.-based Caterpillar Inc., is just one of several companies in the state that could benefit, he said.

“This is going to be in place for a couple of generations of good family-supporting jobs,” Honadel said. “Mills could pop up to process the iron ore. This is going to be a huge, huge deal.”

Of course, not everyone is so enamored with the prospect of the two mines, especially the iron ore mine, nor the potential legislation, which, like the rest of Madison Republicans’ agenda these days, is being fast-tracked.

There are indeed serious environmental concerns with the mines and the prospect of speeding up the review process. This includes potential language in the Senate version of the bill that would reportedly (and amazingly, if true) state that mining permit applicants no longer would be “required to include a risk assessment of accidental health or environmental hazards potentially associated with the mining operations.” That is according to a draft copy of the bill obtained by Wisconsin Public Radio.

I’ll keep you posted on this issue.

In the meantime, I’d like to know what you think. Post your comments below!

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April 10, 2011 · 3:59 pm

Recycled Revenue: State Budget Pain May Come Sooner, Not Later With Funding Cuts

Another update: I spoke with our city administrator about this, and the immediate impact to South Milwaukee may be minimal because we have a recycling fund balance. The bigger concern for us is the proposed loss of recycling grant funding from the state in 2012 and beyond. I will keep you posted.

Update: Milwaukee’s mayor wants a legal opinion on this.

It looks like we will feel some of the state budget pain in South Milwaukee well before 2012.

Check out this story in the Journal Sentinel about looming reductions in state recycling funding for local communities — cuts that could be felt in coming weeks, rather than in 2012 as first thought. From it:

With Walker’s budget reductions, the DNR was required to cut slightly less than $27 million from its budget. Nearly half that amount came from recycling grants, which normally go to 1,018 communities by June 1, said Mary R. Teves, DNR director of financial assistance.

After sending out the email, “my phone has been ringing off the hook,” as local officials try to confirm that their funding would be cut, and to find out by how much, Teves said.

For Milwaukee, the reduction would slice aid by $1.3 million, from $3.4 million to $2.1 million, Mayor Tom Barrett said. The city has budgeted $10 million for recycling this year, but the state aid cut would not take effect until June 1, for a reduction of some 22% for the last seven months of the year, he said.

What will the impact to South Milwaukee be, and what will our options be? I’ll keep you posted.

Keep in mind that we are expecting more than $126,000 in grant funding from the state this year for recycling, so the impacts will be real.

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