Madison, WI—On Friday, November 15, Midwest Environmental Advocates (MEA) filed an amicus, or ‘friend of the court’ brief with the Wisconsin Supreme Court in a case that could have far-reaching implications for the ability of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to address toxic PFAS contamination and other hazardous substances under Wisconsin’s Spills Law.
The case began in 2021 when Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) sued the DNR to limit the agency’s ability to hold polluters accountable if they fail to clean up contamination they cause. After the lawsuit worked its way up through Waukesha County Circuit Court and the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, the State Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. Oral arguments are scheduled for January 14 at 9:45 a.m.
MEA submitted the amicus brief on behalf of a group of environmental and public health advocates, including 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 and a current city alderperson.
“WMC’s lawsuit is a direct attack on Wisconsin’s Spills Law—a bedrock environmental and public health protection that has protected the people of Wisconsin for close to half a century,” said MEA Staff Attorney Rob Lee. “We are hopeful the Wisconsin Supreme Court will reject this reckless legal challenge and vindicate DNR’s decades-long implementation of the Spills Law.”
“The Spills Law is an essential tool for holding polluters accountable and providing assistance to communities grappling with contaminated soil and water,” said Tom Kilian of Citizens for a Clean Wausau. “My community is directly impacted by the DNR’s ability to regulate hazardous contamination under the Spills Law. Wausau’s diverse, working-class neighborhoods have been disproportionately impacted by industrial contamination and are particularly reliant on the DNR’s ability to require investigation and cleanup from responsible parties.”
Under the Spills Law, the DNR is currently providing critical assistance to communities around the state impacted by PFAS contamination, including Marinette, Peshtigo, the Town of Stella in Oneida County, and the Town of Campbell in La Crosse County.
PFAS are a class of synthetic compounds found in a wide variety of manufacturing processes and consumer products such as firefighting foam, nonstick cookware, water-repellent clothing, stain resistant carpets and cleaning products. PFAS are linked to serious health problems including cancer, reproductive issues, thyroid disease and immune system issues.
“The Spills Law must be protected at all costs from the special interests that would overturn it,” said Doug Oitzinger, a former mayor of Marinette and a current city alder. “The Spills Law gives the state authority to hold polluters accountable in places like Marinette, where Tyco is responsible for causing one of the worst sites of PFAS contamination anywhere in the country. As we outlined in our amicus brief, Tyco is currently being prosecuted for violating of the Spills Law, and the outcome may turn on the decision of the Wisconsin Supreme Court in this case.”
“The impact of WMC’s attack on the Spills Law would be much broader than helping Tyco and other PFAS polluters avoid responsibility,” said MEA Executive Director Tony Wilkin Gibart. “The legal theory WMC is advancing would upend the longstanding implementation of the law by forcing the state to go through a complicated and lengthy administrative rulemaking process before it could take action to address a toxic spill.”
“We cannot afford to let corporate interests dismantle the protections that keep Wisconsinites safe, especially those who are most vulnerable—pregnant women, infants and young children,” said Beth Neary, M.D., Co-President of Wisconsin Environmental Health Network. “It’s deeply troubling to see this level of disregard for the health and wellbeing of the people of Wisconsin.”
“If we don’t stand up for our environmental laws, we risk losing everything that makes Wisconsin special, from our lakes and rivers to the future health and prosperity of our communities,” said Dean Hoegger, President and Executive Director of Clean Water Action Council of Northeast Wisconsin.
“It’s unethical for businesses that use known hazardous substances to operate without accountability for their use. Industries have known about the harm of PFAS-style chemicals to human and environmental health for decades. The case before the state supreme court is our last chance to make it clear that according to state law it’s the DNR’s job to hold businesses accountable when they release hazardous substances into our environment,” said Allison Werner, Executive Director of River Alliance of Wisconsin.
Learn more about this case here.
