Midwest Environmental Advocates is a nonprofit law center that combines the power of law with the resolve of communities facing environmental injustice to secure and protect the rights of all people to healthy water, land, and air.

≡ menu
Home » Our Work » Defending the Spills Law

Actions

Defending the Spills Law

— Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC), the state’s largest business lobbying group, is suing the DNR in an attempt to undermine Wisconsin’s Spills Law—a key environmental health protection that keeps Wisconsinites safe from exposure to hazardous substances. MEA is participating in the lawsuit to defend this key environmental health protection.

Latest News



Current status of this case:
An appeals court decision is expected in early 2024.

Resources:
Press Release 06/07/2022
Press Release 04/12/2022
Press Release 09/17/2021
Press Release 06/14/2021

Case Summary

This case began in 2021 when Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and Leather Rich, Inc. filed a lawsuit against the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to limit the agency’s ability to investigate environmental contamination and require responsible parties to clean up contaminated sites. The lawsuit threatens to fundamentally undermine the Spills Law, a bedrock environmental and public health protection that has protected the people of Wisconsin for more than 40 years.

WMC’s lawsuit could remove the only meaningful public health protection we have to address PFAS contamination in Wisconsin. Under the Spills Law, DNR is providing critical assistance to people in Marinette, Peshtigo, La Crosse and other communities devastated by PFAS contamination. If WMC prevails, all that assistance would vanish—the required well testing, the plans for cleanup and remediation—it would all come to a halt.

In October 2021, MEA submitted an amicus brief in the case on behalf of Citizens for a Clean Wausau, Clean Water Action Council of Northeast Wisconsin, River Alliance of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Environmental Health Network, and Doug Oitzinger, a former mayor of Marinette.

Together, these organizations represent thousands of people across the state who will be directly impacted by the outcome of the case. Our clients, however, aren’t the only ones who would be hurt if WMC prevails. The outcome of this case will have real-world implications for virtually every community in the state.

At a hearing in April 2022, Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Michael Bohren issued a decision in favor of WMC, though he agreed to place a temporary stay on the decision in response to concerns that it could endanger public health and cause considerable regulatory uncertainty.

In May 2022, MEA submitted a second amicus brief in which we argued for an extension of the stay pending appeal by the DNR. In June, Judge Bohren ruled that the stay should be extended. The ruling prevents the April decision from taking effect until such time as the Wisconsin Court of Appeals issues a decision. The extension of the stay allows the DNR to continue cleaning up PFAS contamination and providing bottled water to families whose drinking water has been contaminated.

In November 2022, MEA submitted an amicus brief to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals asking the court to uphold DNR’s decades-long
application of the Spills Law by reversing the Circuit Court decision.

The case is now pending before the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. We believe the DNR’s efforts to keep Wisconsin families safe from PFAS contamination will ultimately be vindicated. A decision is expected in early 2024.