CAMBRIA — Allegations that Didion Ethanol is dumping contaminated wastewater into Tarrant Lake could make their way to federal court.
An environmental group called Midwest Environmental Advocates Wednesday filed notices of intent to sue two Wisconsin ethanol factories — Didion in Cambria, and Utica Energy in Oshkosh — alleging that the companies have a combined total of nearly 5,000 documented violations of the federal Clean Water Act.
About 2,000 of those violations are alleged to have been committed by Didion Ethanol, said Karen Schapiro, executive director of Midwest Environmental Advocates.
By filing the intent to sue, Schapiro said, Midwest Environmental Advocates has placed both companies on notice that they have 60 days to address their alleged violations. If that doesn't happen between now and early April, she said, the suit will be filed in federal court.
Dale Drachenberg, vice president of operations for Didion Ethanol — which has been operating in Cambria since April 2008 - said Wednesday that Didion officials consider the allegations to be without merit.
"Environmental compliance is a key objective for us," he said. "We have been and will continue to keep the Department of Natural Resources fully informed of our efforts to assure that the watershed is protected. It is unfortunate — particularly in these economic times — that resources will have to be used to defend against these meritless allegations."
Schapiro said the Didion action is being filed on behalf of about six private citizens in Cambria. The Cambria Village Board — which has discussed the wastewater situation at its last three monthly meetings — is not a party to the suit.
And, neither is Cambrians for Thoughtful Development, an organization that has long challenged Didion's environmental practices in Cambria.
John Mueller of Cambrians for Thoughtful Development said his organization is concentrating mainly on air quality concerns related to Didion's ethanol operation just outside of Cambria and its corn milling operation within the village.
"Cambrians for Thoughtful Development is not a party to this," he said. "However, we are in full support of it."
At the December meeting of the Cambria Village Board, John Domino — a former village trustee who resigned about a year ago after expressing frustration in dealing with Didion — brought a quart jar of pale yellow translucent water to the board, and said the water had been collected from the place where Didion's treated wastewater is discharged.
At Monday's meeting, trustees discussed letters from Drachenberg, and from Portage-based General Engineering, both of which acknowledged challenges in treating the wastewater so that it consistently complies with the criteria set forth in a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources permit.
Domino, who said he is one of the Cambria citizens that are parties to the potential lawsuit, said the suit is intended to be Didion's "wake-up call."
The notice of intent to sue alleges that Didion's wastewater discharge contains excessive levels of chlorine, zinc, phosphorus and other pollutants, which are emptied into streams that eventually empty into Tarrant Lake.
"It has become too easy for these types of facilities to flout both state and federal environmental laws, unfairly benefiting those that shirk their social and environmental responsibilities," Schapiro said.
The notice of the possible federal lawsuit came on the same day that oral arguments were heard in Sauk County Circuit Court in a civil action, called an administrative agency review, which Domino and four others filed against the DNR and Didion, alleging that Didion's permit for wastewater discharge from the DNR is not stringent enough. The case was originally filed in May in Columbia County Circuit Court. It has not been resolved, Domino said, and is separate from the possible federal action.
The goal of the notice of intent to sue, Domino said, would entail an end to the discharge of non-complying wastewater from Didion, with or without any actual filing of a lawsuit.
"A win," he said, "would be complete compliance, and a guarantee that the Duck Creek watershed and Tarrant Lake would not be degraded."
