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DNR to determine eligible boundaries

By Paul Brinkmann
pbrinkma@greenbaypressgazette.com

Gov. Jim Doyle signed a bill Monday intended to provide state money for Morrison residents with bacteria-contaminated wells.

The new law makes state money available — for the first time — in cases where a high percentage of wells in a certain area are contaminated by bacteria from livestock runoff.

"This legislation uses existing resources to ensure that Wisconsin residents have one of their most basic needs met — safe drinking water," Doyle said.

The bill was rushed through the Legislature last week in response to a rash of contaminated wells in the town of Morrison in southern Brown County.

The new law broadens the eligibility requirements for state Well Compensation Program, which helps residents pay for drilling new wells. In the past, the program only paid for chemical contamination like benzene from gasoline leakage.

Under the new requirements the DNR can declare an area of "special eligibility" if an undefined number of wells are shown to be contaminated by fecal bacteria with evidence of livestock runoff in the area.

The last count of contaminated well-water samples from Morrison was 67 in the last month. Most of the bad wells are in the crossroads community of Wayside, about 15 miles south of Green Bay. The entire town has been under a state boil order since Feb. 14.

Todd Ambs, DNR water division administrator, said the state intends to declare parts of Morrison a "special eligibility" area, but staff members still are working on the exact boundaries.

"The challenge now is figuring out how we process the applications, and making sure people are meeting the eligibility.," Ambs said.

State Sen. Alan Lasee, R-Rockland, and Alvin Ott, R-Forest Junction, sponsored the bill. Ambs said some details of a "special eligibility area" were left up to the DNR, and may be codified later by the state's Natural Resources Board.

The program has an income cutoff of $65,000. It provides up to 75 percent of a well replacement with a cap of $9,000 per applicant.