Fox River Discharge Permit For Wastewater ChallengedWisconsin State Journal :: LOCAL :: B2Saturday, April 15, 2006
Associated Press
Groups representing environmental and wildlife interests are
challenging the state's issuance of a permit that allows a paper mill
to dump more phosphorous into the Fox River, authorities said Friday.
The groups contend the Department of Natural Resources erred in
renewing a wastewater discharge permit for Georgia-Pacific Corp.'s
Broadway mill last fall. Among other things, the new permit
allows the mill to release 25,000 pounds of phosphorus into the Fox
River, or 10,000 pounds more than the previous permit, the groups said.
The permit also requires the mill to monitor the mercury it is
discharging into the river, but does not restrict the mercury
discharges. "We don't believe this permit is legal," said
Rebecca Katers, executive director of the Clean Water Action Council of
Northeastern Wisconsin.
Charles Hammer, a DNR attorney, said his agency and the groups
challenging the permit have a difference of opinion in interpreting the
laws at issue.
Duane Schuettpelz, chief of the DNR's wastewater section, said the
agency has issued 1,160 wastewater discharge permits to industrial
companies and municipal governments, and it's rare for outside groups
to challenge the decisions. Mary Jo Malach, a Georgia-Pacific spokeswoman in Green Bay, did not immediately return a telephone message Friday.
A new five-year wastewater discharge permit was issued to the
Georgia-Pacific mill last fall. The Clean Water Action Council and
National Wildlife Federation were granted a hearing before an
administrative law judge to challenge it. On Thursday, the
groups filed a lawsuit in Brown County Circuit Court seeking to clarify
what it could challenge before the administrative law judge and whether
the state's regulations met federal standards, Katers said.
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