Category: Wisconsin DNR

Air National Guard Dane County Dane County Regional Airport Fish Starkweather Creek stormwater runoff Toxic Chemicals Truax Water Pollution Wisconsin DNR

Dane County Airport’s WPDES permit is expired and doesn’t mention PFAS. Why?

February 24, 2021 Maria C. Powell, PhD

Over two and a half years ago, June 2018, we asked DNR to include PFAS monitoring in Dane County airport’s WPDES permit, which includes requirements for regular monitoring of Starkweather…

City of Madison Environmental health Environmental Justice Fish Fish Advisory PCBs Pesticides PFCs or PFAS Pharmaceuticals Plastics Racial disparities Racism stormwater runoff Toxic Chemicals Water Pollution Wisconsin DNR Yahara Lakes

Monona Bay, Downtown Madison’s Toxic Cesspool

February 15, 2021 Maria C. Powell, PhD

Fish art on Monona Bay created by Eric Anang. Photo by Amber Arnold, Wisconsin State Journal. Graphic additions by a MEJO collaborator. PFAS was found at significant levels in Monona…

City of Madison Community engagement Environmental health Environmental Justice Madison Metro NEPA Oscar Mayer Public Participation Racial disparities Risk Assessment Toxic Chemicals Vapor intrusion Wisconsin DNR

Victory!! No Metro Bus Barn at the Poisoned Oscar Mayer site

February 3, 2021 Maria C. Powell, PhD

Oscar Mayer site in 1947 (photo from Wisconsin State Journal) Victory for Madison’s Northside! Madison’s Metro Transit authority has abandoned plans to buy the northern part of the highly-contaminated former…

City of Madison Environmental Justice Oscar Mayer Racial disparities Racism Toxic Chemicals Wisconsin DNR

Madison alders approved city’s first environmental justice policy this summer–without knowing it

September 4, 2020 Maria C. Powell, PhD

Dane County and Madison have some of the worst racial disparities in the nation. Elected officials vow time and again to fix things, but when there’s a choice between doing…

City of Madison Community engagement Dane County East Madison Community Center Environmental health Environmental Justice Fish PFCs or PFAS Public Participation Racial disparities Racism Starkweather Creek Starkweather EJ Project stormwater runoff Toxic Chemicals Water quality Wisconsin DNR

Northside teens push for creek clean-up after new sediment tests find high levels of PFAS — again

May 28, 2020 Maria C. Powell, PhD

By Oona Mackesey-Green, Northside News (photo by Garth Olmanson) When the test results came back in February showing high levels of PFAS in the sediment at Starkweather Creek, a foot…

City of Madison Community engagement Dane County Earth Day Environmental health Environmental Justice Fish PFCs or PFAS Racial disparities Racism Risk Assessment Starkweather Creek Starkweather EJ Project stormwater runoff Toxic Chemicals Water Pollution Water quality Wisconsin DNR

MEJO and East Madison Community Center teens find significantly elevated PFAS levels in Starkweather Creek sediments

April 21, 2020 Jim Powell

Earth Day 2020: Fifty years after first Earth Day, toxic environmental pollution still pervasive (Madison, Wis.)–New PFAS results, released before the COVID 19 lockdown, show significantly elevated levels of PFOS…

City of Madison Environmental Justice prions Public Health Madison Dane County stormwater runoff Tennyson Toxic Chemicals Toxins Water Pollution Wisconsin DNR

Low-income housing built on “environmental nightmare,” infectious agents

March 21, 2020 Maria C. Powell, PhD

Was the site cleaned up before development? No. ****************** In the last three years, low income apartments, an assisted living facility, and several Habitat for Humanity homes have been constructed…

Air National Guard City of Madison Dane County Dane County Regional Airport Environmental Justice EPA F-35 Fighter jets Fish PFCs or PFAS Public Participation Risk Assessment Soil contamination Starkweather Creek stormwater runoff Toxic Chemicals Truax Trump Water Pollution Water quality Wisconsin DNR

Superfund will not protect our waterways — or us — from the military’s toxic pollution

March 11, 2020 Maria C. Powell, PhD

Maria Powell, Cap Times op-ed Photo above: Starkweather Creek going through Truax Field The final environmental impact statement (EIS) on basing F-35 fighter jets at Madison’s Truax Field states that…

Air National Guard City of Madison Dane County Department of Defense Environmental Justice EPA F-35 Fighter jets PFCs or PFAS Risk Assessment Starkweather Creek stormwater runoff Toxic Chemicals Truax Water Pollution Wisconsin DNR

The Final F-35 EIS is a total sham

February 23, 2020 Maria C. Powell, PhD

The public comment process for the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for basing F-35s at Madison’s Truax Air National Guard base was not only token—it was a total sham. According…

City of Madison Environmental Justice Fish Fish Advisory Public Health Madison Dane County Risk Assessment Starkweather Creek Toxic Chemicals Truax Wisconsin DHS Wisconsin DNR

High levels of PFAS found in Starkweather Creek, Lake Monona fish (gee, what a surprise!)

January 17, 2020 Maria C. Powell, PhD

In October, 2018–after months of asking the city, county, and DNR to test fish in Starkweather Creek–we posted this article asking why nobody would test the fish. We had known…

Cancer City of Madison EPA Madison Water Utility PFCs or PFAS Public Health Madison Dane County Risk Assessment Starkweather Creek Toxic Chemicals Wisconsin DNR

The fight for safe drinking water: Will Madison officials pay attention to the science on PFAS?

January 9, 2020 Maria C. Powell, PhD

Graphic from ISTHMUS By Kori Feener, Isthmus Maria Powell used to believe that science would prevail. She co-founded the Midwest Environmental Justice Organization in 2005, hoping to draw attention to…

City of Madison City of Madison Parks Department Community engagement Environmental Justice Fish Fish Advisory PFCs or PFAS Public Health Madison Dane County Public Participation Starkweather Creek stormwater runoff Toxic Chemicals Toxins Truax Water Pollution Water quality Wisconsin DHS Wisconsin DNR

PFAS Task Force RIP

December 21, 2019 Jim Powell

As we’ve experienced for twenty years in Madison, local government prefers to keep the public out of actions it takes–or does not take–regarding locally-occurring toxic pollution problems. The proposed Madison-Dane…

Air National Guard City of Madison City of Madison Parks Department Dane County Regional Airport Environmental Justice Fish Fish Advisory Madison Gas & Electric PFCs or PFAS Public Health Madison Dane County Starkweather Creek Toxic Chemicals Toxins Truax Water Pollution Water quality Wisconsin DHS Wisconsin DNR

PFAS levels in creek are more than “concerning”

December 21, 2019 Jim Powell

The PFOS amount in foam found in Starkweather Creek was 92,000 parts per trillion, far exceeding the laughable EPA advisory threshold level of 70 ppt. The mayor should be more…

City of Madison Environmental Justice PFCs or PFAS Starkweather Creek Toxic Chemicals Truax Water quality Wisconsin DHS Wisconsin DNR

Madison Mayor calls PFAS levels in Starkweather Creek foam ‘concerning’

December 20, 2019 Maria C. Powell, PhD

Photo: Kids fishing from Starkweather Creek at the Olbrich boat launch in summer 2018 (Maria Powell) By Abigail Becker, Cap Times Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources confirmed Thursday high concentrations…

Air National Guard Cancer City of Madison Dane County Environmental Justice Fish Advisory Madison Water Utility PFCs or PFAS Public Health Madison Dane County Risk Assessment Starkweather Creek stormwater runoff Toxic Chemicals Truax Water Pollution Wisconsin DNR

Madison residents increasingly alarmed by PFAS levels in local waterways

December 11, 2019 Maria C. Powell, PhD

Photo: Starkweather Creek in the Darbo-Worthington neighborhood (Maria Powell). By Steve Elbow, Cap Times Lance Green has been collecting water samples from Starkweather Creek for years. As a volunteer for…