May 8, 2012 E-News

SEPTAGEGATE – "A top political appointee at the state Department of Natural Resources chose not to send a complaint against an Oconomowoc waste hauler to the Department of Justice for prosecution despite findings by agency staff that the company was treating fields with so much human waste from septic tanks it risked poisoning nearby wells, DNR records show. Scott Gunderson, executive assistant to DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp, "made an extra effort" to deal with the complaint internally last year even though the agency's enforcement staff urged that the case be referred to DOJ, which could have imposed fines of tens of thousands of dollars...Gunderson and Steve Sisbach, a law enforcement program manager who worked on the case, defended the decision to issue citations rather than seek DOJ prosecution because they said it could force the company into compliance faster rather than waiting for the Justice Department to act. The citations also are consistent with past enforcement of other septic companies for excessive spreading and inaccurate record-keeping, they said, although Sisbach said not all cases are necessarily the same SOURCE - http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/environment/dnr-appointee-resolved-massive-waste-violation-internally-instead-of-referring/article_07a64834-96e3-11e1-b4c6-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz1uDPOUsQk

SECRETARY DEFENDS DNR ACTIONS – "A recent story about the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources' enforcement efforts against one septic hauler seeks to sensationalize the situation. Admittedly, different people can legitimately disagree over how any particular case should be handled. Such a disagreement even occurred within the DNR civil service staff about the appropriate level of punishment for this particular case. However, one wouldn't know of the debate because only one side of the story was portrayed in the article...The company did not go unpunished. The debate is over whether the company should be fined with lower citations or referred to the Wisconsin Department of Justice for potentially higher citations. A fine was paid, and the situation was handled in a way that the next violation could lead to the suspension of the septic license – which the article failed to report...This was a first time landspreading violation for this company. For similar cases in the past, the DNR has issued tickets for a first offense; and then referred to the Department of Justice on the second. Earlier this year, this administration referred a septage hauler to DOJ that had a second violation. Consistency of enforcement is important...Why wasn't the story just about the facts and the differing views of the appropriate level of punishment? Why didn't it include all of the facts? Why did it include a discussion possible ethics violations when no ethics violations occurred and when Moroney exceeded the standards with his actions? Why did it imply political favoritism when the final decision was not swayed at all by political influence? I will let you, the citizens of this great state, come to your own conclusion." SOURCE - http://dnr.wi.gov/news/BreakingNews_Lookup.asp?id=2374.

MILLER CALLS FOR WATER TESTING – "Senator Mark Miller (D-Monona) today called on the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to pay for testing of the drinking wells that could be contaminated by the illegal dumping of high levels of human waste on farm fields in Jefferson County...According to the Wisconsin State Journal, Herr Environmental has possibly dumped three times the allowed limit of human waste on farm fields in 2009. Miller noted that the Department's records give little reason to believe that Herr Environmental has been following any of the regulations since 2009...Miller also questioned Secretary Cathy Stepp's defense of the DNR actions in this case as partially due to staff shortages. Stepp has not requested additional enforcement staff."
SOURCE -  http://www.thewhe%20l%20erreport.com/releases/May12/0507/0507millerdnr.pdf 

QUOTE – "The conservation of our natural resources and their proper use constitute the fundamental problem which underlies almost every other problem of our national life." Theodore Roosevelt

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