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Clean Water Action v Proctor and Gamble Background: In February of 2003, Clean Water Action Council of Northeastern Wisconsin, a Green Bay-based environmental and educational nonprofit organization, sent a 60 Day Notice of Intent To Sue paper products giant Procter & Gamble, Inc., for violations of its air pollution permit. Midwest Environmental Advocates filed the Notice on behalf of Clean Water Action Council in its efforts to enforce state and federal Clean Air Act requirements. Public records reveal that Procter & Gamble violated its permit hundreds of times over the past year. It failed to properly manage its pollution control equipment, or did not monitored the equipment to ensure it is not emitting dust and particulate matter into the air, threatening public health. Procter & Gamble operates its Fox River Paper Mill subject to the terms of a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) permit issued in December of 2001 under Title V of the federal Clean Air Act. The permit requires Procter & Gamble to operate its air pollution control equipment within specific limits to prevent excessive levels of dust and particulate matter from escaping from its smoke stacks. The company was also required to monitor that equipment to ensure that permit limits are being met. Air pollution is a major concern for downtown Green Bay . Dust and particulate matter can cause or aggravate serious respiratory problems in the young, the elderly and sensitive individuals. Brown County’s overall asthma rate is 7%, according to the 1997-2000 Family Health Survey by Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services (DHFS). In Brown County in 2000 and 2001, there were 674 children of age 9 and younger hospitalized due to serious respiratory problems, including asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia and pleurisy, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services. Of 72 counties in Wisconsin, Brown County had the second highest number of these hospitalizations, after Milwaukee County. The suit came at the heels of a December 2002 petition by Clean Water Action Council and other environmental and public health organizations to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to withdraw the DNR’s authority to administer the federal clean air program for failure to collect fees from air pollution sources needed to properly fund the agency’s regulatory efforts. Many environmental, conservation and health organizations called on Governor Doyle to raise the fees in his new budget so that the DNR could hire additional air permit engineers. Instead, Governor Doyle proposed to cut 11.5 positions from that 100-person unit in DNR’s Air Management Program. Status: On the eve of MEA filing a lawsuit, the State of Wisconsin filed and settled a case against Procter & Gamble. Environmentalists Threaten to Sue Procter & Gamble CWAC promises lawsuit if Procter & Gamble does not respond Air Lawsuit Possible |
