Category: Oscar Mayer

Arrogance Burn pits Cancer City of Madison Dane County Denialism Doublespeak Environmental Justice Fish Fish Advisory Hypocrisy Inequality Madison Madison-Kipp Corp. Mercury Oscar Mayer Privilege Public Participation Racial disparities Racial Justice Risk Assessment Starkweather Creek Toxic Chemicals Truax Wastewater Treatment Water Pollution

Resistance Radio to feature “Poisoning Paradise: An Environmental History of Madison”

September 9, 2024 Jim Powell

Maria Powell’s book, “Poisoning Paradise: An Environmental History of Madison,” is the topic of an upcoming Resistance Radio interview with Derrick Jensen on Sunday, September 15 at 5 pm CDT.…

City of Madison Denialism Doublespeak Environmental Justice Hartmeyer Kraft Heinz Oscar Mayer

Eastsiders be warned! City hydrogeologist says Isthmus is more contaminated than Hartmeyer/Oscar Mayer site!

December 13, 2022 Maria C. Powell, PhD

In today’s Wisconsin State Journal article by Chris Hubbuch, city hydrogeologist Brynn Bemis was quoted saying that the Hartmeyer land, where coal was stored and fuel oil spilled–and just feet…

Arsenic City of Madison Denialism Department of Natural Resources Hartmeyer Kraft Heinz Oscar Mayer

Will “capping” arsenic at Hartmeyer housing protect vulnerable people?

December 12, 2022 Maria C. Powell, PhD

~~~ City of Madison planners are working with developers from California (Lincoln Avenue Capital) to build 550+ units of affordable and senior housing on contaminated land next to the abandoned…

City of Madison Denialism Department of Natural Resources Doublespeak Kraft Heinz Oscar Mayer

Corporate Behemoth Kraft-Heinz wants to cover up its poisons, Part II: Community resists

December 11, 2022 Maria C. Powell, PhD

First, a little background… Part I described how Kraft Heinz purchased the Hartmeyer property, and how our current “remediation and redevelopment” regulatory approach is intended to protect polluters like Kraft…

City of Madison Environmental Justice Oscar Mayer

Tell Madison Plan Commission to follow Environmental Justice policy on December 12

December 10, 2022 Maria C. Powell, PhD

On Monday, December 12, the Madison Plan Commission will decide whether to approve conditional use zoning so developers from Santa Monica, CA can build 550+ units of dense “affordable” and…

Denialism Department of Health Services Department of Natural Resources Doublespeak Kraft Heinz Oscar Mayer

WTF? DHS assesses health risks at proposed affordable housing site with “industrial” standards

December 6, 2022 Maria C. Powell, PhD

~~~ This piece is a followup from

City of Madison Doublespeak Kraft Heinz Oscar Mayer

Corporate Behemoth Kraft-Heinz wants to cover up its poisons with affordable housing (Part I)

November 30, 2022 Maria C. Powell, PhD

This story has many gaps and likely some inadvertent errors. It will be edited in coming days. Please let me know if you have corrections or anything to add: mariapowell@mejo.us.…

Environmental Justice Hartmeyer natural area Oscar Mayer

How environmental injustices are created in privileged, “progressive” Madison

November 20, 2022 Maria C. Powell, PhD

The photo above depicts the “gas house” and “bridge” (red) Kraft-Heinz built on the Hartmeyer property west of the factory site, to pump natural gas to its power plant after…

City of Madison Dane County Department of Defens Oscar Mayer Starkweather Creek Superfund Truax landfill

Madison’s Secret Superfund Site

April 4, 2022 Maria C. Powell, PhD

**** Madison’s Secret Superfund Site: Truax Landfill Sources for this article-see footnote below** From the early 1900s through

Burke sewage treatment plant Environmental health Madison Oscar Mayer Racial disparities Trash Truax landfill

Porcine Pollution Solutions: A stinky blast from Madison’s sordid past

November 15, 2021 Maria C. Powell, PhD

For those not familiar with pig terminology… From the American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition: PORCINE (pronunciation: pôr′sīn″), adjective: Of or resembling swine or a pig. Of…

Burke sewage treatment plant City of Madison Environmental health Oscar Mayer PFCs or PFAS Starkweather Creek

What’s draining from these pipes into Starkweather Creek? PFAS & other poisons

November 11, 2021 Maria C. Powell, PhD

Above: Giant drain pipes in Bridges Golf Course, which receive PFAS-contaminated stormwater from the former Truax landfill and Burke sewage plant–and former Oscar Mayer factory area–before discharging via the “golf…

City of Madison Environmental destruction Madison Oscar Mayer PCBs Pesticides Starkweather Creek Toxic Chemicals Toxins Wastewater Treatment Water Pollution Water quality Wetlands Wisconsin DNR

Oscar Mayer Sludge History, Part II

May 15, 2021 Jim Powell

The latest installment of Maria’s Powell’s saga of a corporation and the city that loved it…to its own detriment. OSCAR MAYER SLUDGE HISTORY, PART II <– NEW OSCAR MAYER’S INSECTICIDE…

City of Madison Corporate greenwashing Earth Day Environmental health Oscar Mayer Pesticides Toxic Chemicals Wastewater Treatment

Oscar Mayer’s Earth Day, 1970: Spray chemical perfumes on sewage stench!

May 10, 2021 Maria C. Powell, PhD

In 1970, just before Madison’s first Earth Day, Oscar Mayer installed a mile-long system that misted artificial chemical perfumes around its sludge lagoons–after decades of neighborhood complaints about the sewage…

City of Madison Environmental health Oscar Mayer Pesticides PFCs or PFAS Starkweather Creek

Pesticides and PFAS should be tested at Oscar Mayer, Burke & Starkweather Creek

April 3, 2021 Maria C. Powell, PhD

Oscar Mayer in 1947 (Wisconsin State Journal photo) In May 2020, a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) contracted by the City of Madison, while it was preparing to purchase…

City of Madison Environmental health Environmental Justice Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District Oscar Mayer PCBs PFCs or PFAS Starkweather Creek Toxic Chemicals Wastewater Treatment Water Pollution Yahara Lakes

Oscar Mayer contamination must be fully investigated & remediated before redevelopment

March 21, 2021 Maria C. Powell, PhD

For 100 years, Oscar Mayer & Co. and corporations that purchased it have polluted the land and groundwater beneath the site–as well as Starkweather Creek, Yahara River, and Lake Monona.…