TAKE ACTION: Urge Your State and Federal Lawmakers to Protect Our Waters

Support SB 52 and AB 61—Say No to Oversalting and Yes to Freshwater

As a member of the Wisconsin Salt Wise Coalition, Milwaukee Riverkeeper supports several state bills (SB 52 and AB 61) that would create a deicing applicator certification program through WDNR. The program is based on the existing contractor training that we help provide. These bills would provide some liability protection for snow removal professionals that are trained in best practices for protecting public safety and water quality. Both bills have passed out of committee and we’d like to see them come to the floor for a vote.

Please contact your lawmakers and let them know that reducing salt in our waterways protects water quality, aquatic life, drinking water supplies, and infrastructure. Find contact information for your lawmakers and some template language below.

Support Changes to SB 312 That Remove Polluter Loophole in PFAS Cleanup Bill

The health of Wisconsinites in over 120 communities across the state is at risk due to PFAS, a class of highly-toxic, human-made chemicals tied to cancer, liver damage, decreased fertility, increased risk of thyroid disease, and other impairments.  In our watershed, PFAS has been detected widely in river water, sediments, fish, and wastewater, as well as in the drinking water supplies of West Bend, Milwaukee, Saukville, Cedarburg, Brookfield, Germantown, Sheboygan, South Milwaukee, and Grafton.

Governor Evers signed the biennial budget and $125 million has been allocated to a PFAS cleanup trust fund. However, legislation must be passed to ensure that funding can be distributed quickly and efficiently to communities through grant programs. Additionally, the current draft includes a polluter loophole that limits WDNR’s authority to test for contamination, begin remediation, and hold polluters accountable for the messes they create. These limitations also undermine Wisconsin’s Spills Law, which is Wisconsin’s number one tool for protecting communities from dangerous chemicals like PFAS.

Please contact your legislators and ask them to support changes to SB 312 that ensure funds can be distributed equitably and efficiently to impacted communities, without undermining long-term remediation efforts that are protected under Wisconsin’s spills law. If the polluter loophole in SB 312 is not removed, we will oppose it. Contact information for your legislators can be found below.