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 County PFAS Task Force was quashed by the city and county, which does not like the public involved in its toxics problems (both are “responsible parties” for the PFAS contamination that has been in the news). If I had written this opinion piece before yesterday’s news that PFAS chemicals in Starkweather Creek foam topped 100,000 ppt per trillion, I would have named that as primary evidence for needing a public PFAS Task Force; otherwise we just have the mayor saying she is “concerned” and that the Parks Divisions(!) will keep an eye on it.
Apparently government officials don’t think PFAS is a very serious problem in the first place — and don’t want the public to have any voice in what to do about it.
In February, the Midwest Environmental Justice Organization advocated for a public PFAS task force. One of its core purposes was to provide a venue for residents to engage in city and county decisions about public health and environmental risks from PFAS contamination, which our community will face for generations to come.
Then-Madison Ald. David Ahrens graciously wrote a council resolution to create it. We and many others supported the resolution at the Water Utility Board, Board of Health and Committee on the Environment in the following months — and each of them unanimously approved it.
However, the resolution then languished for six months at the Common Council Executive Committee before being “placed on file” — essentially, killed — in October. What happened?
Apparently government officials don’t think PFAS is a very serious problem in the first place — and don’t want the public to have any voice in what to do about it. Behind the scenes, city and county staff actively fought the resolution and created their own internal, non-public PFAS working group behind closed doors.
After reviewing the draft resolution, on Feb. 17, Doug Voegeli, environmental health supervisor at Public Health Madison Dane County, wrote to city staff: “I do not want this taskforce…it sends a message that we (PHMDC) are concerned about the health impact of these contaminants, and we are not.” When he received many staff emails opposing the resolution, assistant city attorney Doran Viste tried to “put the brakes” on it.
Dane County, which owns the highly PFAS-contaminated Truax Field, also worked to kill the task force. The County Board chair convinced the city sponsors to kill the resolution. Repeated requests that the county hold public meetings on PFAS were ignored — and County Executive Joe Parisi flatly refuses to engage publicly on it in any way.
What about Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway? While running for office, she publicly supported the task force resolution, but once elected, did nothing to keep it from being quashed. Further, at a December Common Council Executive Committee meeting, she downplayed PFAS risks, suggesting that the public should be more concerned about other contaminants.
Meanwhile, ongoing meetings of the city-county “PFAS Working Group” created months ago are not public, so there is no way for citizens to raise questions, provide input or even find out what was discussed. These public employees do not report their work to any committee or elected body.
Our local government’s progressive reputation? The sad fate of the PFAS task force is about as non-democratic as it gets. Resident involvement? No. Secret meetings? Yes. Stonewalling citizens? Standard operating procedure.
Jim Powell has worked for Citizens for a Better Environment, Wisconsin Stewardship Network and the Madison Northside Planning Council, and is currently on the Madison-based Midwest Environmental Justice Organization board of directors.
