Drinking Water

My granddaughter in Wausau says that she and her children can’t drink water from the tap due to PFAS contamination. The legislature has authorized money to get rid of the pollution, but there are strings attached and the money is on hold.

Water problems are increasing or critical all over the world. In Wisconsin, probably the biggest water issue is excessive nitrate levels in groundwater, which results primarily from intensive animal agriculture. Unfortunately, our State legislators have been restricting the DNR’s efforts to address the problem and to hold people accountable when numerous studies show increased colorectal cancer, thyroid disease, and birth defects.

According to Adam Voskuil, staff attorney for Midwest Environmental Advocates, the DNR abandoned their effort in 2020 to control nitrates because the process set by the state’s statutes and the timeline did not allow adequate time to do that. In 2020 Adam stated “A law that requires state government to make decisions based on the financial interests of industry regardless of the impact on the health and wellbeing of Wisconsinites is both outrageous and morally reprehensible… If these new nitrate rules had moved forward, the benefit to human health would have far exceeded the cost of implementation.”

Our DNR’s 2023 “Groundwater … Report to the Legislature” clearly informs our legislators that excessive levels are increasing, that most of Burnett County has safe levels, Polk is a bit worse, with places in both counties that do, already, have excessive levels.

But the report also shows that the groundwater in both counties are highly susceptible to excessive levels when compared to other counties. It’s fair to assume that increasing intensive animal agriculture in our counties will endanger our health.

State Senator Quinn’s Senate Bill 892 would reduce the ability of our townships to fend off the very narrow interests of factory ‘farmers’, favoring big agribusiness over the critical needs of Wisconsin’s 25th Senate district.

The Bill will degrade our health and incur costs for remediation when levels increase. Please ask Governor Evers, who has defended our health from the gerrymandered Republican legislature over and over, to veto this unhealthy Bill.

Although Senator Quinn is a Republican, water quality is obviously not a left-right controversy in northwest Wisconsin. It’s important to remember that we have more that unites us than divides us.

Peter Truitt

Danbury

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Peter Truitt

6720 Hayden Lake Rd

Danbury, WI 54830

(651) 249-4491