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PFAS Plan Pushes Forward
There could finally be some action on getting forever chemicals out of the water in Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin Senate on Tuesday approved a plan to help treat water with PFAS contamination. The proposal is a compromise.
“I’m thankful that minds have changed on PFAS through honest dialogue," Sen Eric Wimberger, R-Gillett, said after the vote. "Governor Evers and the DNR will support our protections for innocent landowners after refusing to support them in our previous legislative effort. It’s wrong to hold landowners financially and legally responsible for pollution they didn’t cause, and the bills now satisfy both the Governor’s enforcement concerns and my concern for the innocent."
Originally, the governor didn't want an innocent landowner exemption, he was looking for more power to sue landowners where PFAS contamination was found. That led Gov. Evers to veto similar PFAS plans last year.
"These bills have now unanimously passed both the State Assembly and State Senate. This moment finally brings our comprehensive relief effort to the Governor’s desk, and we can soon begin helping communities and landowners fight PFAS contamination wherever they find it," Wimberger added.
Environmental groups in Wisconsin are also pleased with the compromise.
"The Legislature created the PFAS trust fund 32 months ago, and since then, people in Marinette, Peshtigo, the Town of Campbell, the Town of Stella, and communities throughout the state have waited and waited for our state government to create the programs through which the PFAS trust fund can be allocated. Now, an end to that waiting is finally in sight," Clean Wisconsin Government Affairs Director Erik Kanter said in a statement.
"The long, difficult work toward compromise on what should have been a straightforward spending bill is a telling sign that toxic PFAS contamination is evolving into a widespread, costly public health and environmental crisis—one that touches everyone from consumers to farmers and manufacturers. It’s a crisis our state cannot ignore."
Because the compromise passed unanimously, Gov. Evers is expected to sign the new law quickly.
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