RADIUM; The Proper Approach; Communities Should Be Allowed to Make Progress on Handling Their Radium Problems Without Fearing Sanctions From the State. The Key is Ascertaining Progress is Occurring.
By FRANZEN
State Department of Natural Resources officials are taking the right course in dealing with 12 water utilities that are not yet in compliance with federal standards for radium. Instead of referring the communities to prosecutors for fines that could further hamper efforts to improve water quality, the DNR will continue monitoring the progress of utilities that are making headway toward compliance.
That they are making headway is critical, as is continued monitoring. Utilities that are making real progress deserve a chance to continue that progress without being punished. But any utilities that aren’t making a sincere effort or that discontinue their efforts in the belief they’re getting a pass from the DNR deserve a slap on the head in the form of prosecution and fine.
Right now, the news is good: “They’ve all done something,” Lee Boushon, a water supply chief for the DNR, told the Journal Sentinel. And Todd Ambs, head of the DNR state water section, took the right approach when he emphasized that his agency wants to help utilities become compliant and not obstruct progress with punitive fines.
Among those still not in compliance are the City of Waukesha, the Village of Pewaukee and Ethan Allen School in the Town of Delafield. Waukesha Mayor Larry Nelson said last week the city is working hard to meet the standards and is planning to add two new wells. Details on how to acquire the property for the wells, which is outside the city, have to be worked out.
Waukesha’s Plan Commission will be considering this week a land use plan that would include annexation and development of part of the site. The Common Council, which would have to approve any annexation, needs to consider whether more development is the best answer and what kind of strain such development would place on city services.
Such political questions aren’t the only hindrances to compliance. In Brown County, five violating communities will convert from wells to Lake Michigan water imported from Manitowoc, but the water pipe linking the two areas is under construction.
With such issues and technical problems still unresolved, it only makes sense for the DNR to give communities time to resolve them.
What’s the best way for Waukesha and other communities to resolve their radium groundwater problems? E-mail jsedit@journalsentinel.com
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