Thursday, May 4, 2017

For Walker's WI, another rotten national ranking

I'd posted that Wisconsin's roads are in the 2nd worst condition among the 50 states.

Add to that - - by one new measurement, Wisconsin is 12th worst nationally for wells which supply drinking water out of compliance with Federal law:

The study released Tuesday by [an] environmental advocacy group lists nearly 1,400 violations of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act by public wells in Wisconsin, resulting in the state's 12th worst ranking for the number of violations per the number of people using community wells. The  study ranks states in several ways.  
In its defense, the Wisconsin Department of Natural  Resources said the ranking came about because DNR does better reporting of violations than other states, and also said things get corrected quickly in Wisconsin.
Our robust system to discover violations early is likely more comprehensive than other states, meaning violation numbers may seem high when looking just at EPA data, which some broadly interpret as a widespread problem, but in fact our system enables us to identify more problems quicker and allows us to assist systems in getting them resolved quicker, which in turn gets clean, safe water back on line for the public quicker.
Some great spin there, given the agency's cut-back on pollution inspections and enforcement actions during the Walker years, and this disclosure:
State audit finds DNR ignoring own rules on water pollution
Three related things: 

*  Don't forget that Wisconsin is still working to fix 75 Clean Water Act "deficiencies" Walker and his DNR accumulated over the last six years.

*  There are many, many contaminated wells are near
 big feedlots whichextract huge amounts of groundwater through so-called high-capacity wells.

*  Walker is about to sign a bill making thousands of those big groundwater well permits permanent without further review, so people who live near the feedlots and other Big Ag operations can expect continuing contamination and second-class citizenship.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I have posted some videos from Glenn Grothman's recent town hall.

Grothman on climate change
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQvROtxsOWw

Grothman on women’s reproductive health
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAa_rQEOZL0&t=13s

Grothman said three classes of taxpayers, the ultra-rich, middle class and “those who could be working harder.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo0yY5in_4o

Grothman Town Hall video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKwmAFtxi1k&t=6s

Feel free to use.
Dan Wilson


DevilDog said...

Dan, that you can actually stomach listening to Grothman for more than 30 seconds is a tribute to your courage.