May 2007

Holding the Flambeau Mining Company Accountable for a Full Reclamation

Midwest Environmental Advocates is representing the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians in a challenge to Flambeau Mining Company’s request for a Certificate of Completion of Reclamation of the Flambeau Mine, near the town of Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wisconsin.The Flambeau Mining Company removed copper and gold from the mine during the 1990s. Wisconsin’s mining laws require the company to return the site to its original natural state, a process called "reclamation."  Although the company has filled in the pit, restored vegetation to the site, and put in some trails, this type of superficial reclamation has not satisfied the law. While there is evidence that the company has contaminated groundwater and surface waters, they claim that they do not need to clean up these waters under their reclamation plan.   They have prematurely petitioned the DNR to give them a Certificate of Completion of Reclamation and asked the state to return 80% of an $11 million dollar bond the DNR was holding in the event Flambeau Mining Company failed to reclaim the site.The Lac Courte Oreilles Tribe is trying to stop this by challenging the decision in a contested case hearing (an administrative trial). The mine is adjacent to the Flambeau River, pictured. Not only are these waters important recreational and aesthetic resources, they are also part of the “ceded territory” in which the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribe has hunting, fishing, and other treaty rights.  Additionally, we are working with many other groups and individuals who are interested in ensuring protections for the environment, including the Wisconsin Resources Protection Council, Sierra Club, and Northern Thunder.  

On April 27, 2007, and again on May 8, 2007, we submitted briefs to the judge arguing that a hearing should include a review of whether the mine has polluted ground and surface waters. Public hearings are scheduled for May 16, 2007, at 2 pm and 6:30 p.m. and May 17, 2007, at 8:30 a.m. in the County Board Room of the Rusk County Courthouse. A contested case hearing will commence at 9 am, on May 30, 2007, also at the Rusk County Courthouse.

Learn more about this case and watch for updates here. 

Fighting for the Rights of Citizens to be Heard

In 2005, the DNR issued a water pollution discharge permit that allows Fort James Operating Company to increase the amount of phosphorus and mercury it sends into the lower Fox River and Green Bay.  The lower Fox River and Green Bay are already impaired with phosphorus and mercury.  Both water bodies suffer from severe algae blooms, caused in part by high phosphorus concentrations, that give the water a “pea green soup” appearance.   High mercury levels have been recorded in fish caught in these waters .Midwest Environmental Advocates filed a petition for an adjudicatory hearing on behalf of Clean Water Action Council of Northeastern Wisconsin and the National Wildlife Federation challenging the permit terms.  The DNR partially denied the petition. The petitioners filed a Petition for Judicial Review and Declaratory Judgment in Brown County Circuit Court on April 13, 2006, challenging the DNR's partial denial of the administrative hearing.

After an exhaustive procedure of law, the Circuit Court dismissed the case based upon an argument from Fort James Operating Company regarding signature verifications.  While this argument had no bearing upon the issue at hand – namely, the continuing pollution of the Fox River and Green Bay – the Court dismissed the case on November 27, 2006. The petitioners appealed the Circuit Court’s decision in December 2006.  We are currently in the appeals process and filed our Reply Brief to Fort James Operating Company’s Response on May 9, 2007.

Learn more about this case and watch for updates here.  

Stopping Stormwater Pollution From Our Largest Cities

On April 27, 2007, Midwest Environmental Advocates filed its initial brief on behalf of Friends of Milwaukee’s Rivers, Clean Water Action Council, and individual petitioners in a challenge to the state-wide general permit for municipal storm sewer discharges (MS4s) and the DNR’s administrative rules for antidgradation protection (“keeping clean waters clean”). Through this challenge, Midwest Environmental Advocates and the represented petitioners are working to maintain basic Clean Water Act protections for existing water quality protection and apply federally-required antidegradation review requirements to urban storm sewer discharges. 

Polluted runoff from urban storm sewers is a leading cause of water pollution in Wisconsin. Given the rapid expansion of our cities, the amount of pollution carried off of parking lots and streets will likely increase despite basic management practices required under DNR permits. The MS4 case seeks to enforce a federal requirement that cities and developers take all cost-effective steps to reduces stormwater pollution before building new developments and increasing stormwater discharge to storm sewer systems. We hope that by properly implementing the Clean Water Act's antidegradation policy, Wisconsin communities can efficiently and effectively reduce urban stormwater pollution at its source and protect the existing water quality in all of our waters.

Welcoming Kendra Wochos, MEA's New Litigation Paralegal

Midwest Environmental Advocates is exited to welcome Kendra Wochos as our new Litigation Paralegal!  Originally from Iowa, Kendra received her undergraduate degree from the University of San Diego and a Master’s Degree in Interdisciplinary Humanities with a focus in Political Philosophy and History from New York University. Kendra brings several years of experience in legal administration to MEA, along with a respect and passion for environmental protection and community development.