Legal action
Defending Wisconsin's Spills Law
STATUS: Legal Victory!
When Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the state’s largest business lobbying group, sued the Department of Natural Resources in an attempt to undermine Wisconsin’s Spills Law, Midwest Environmental Advocates got involved to defend this key environmental health protection.
Case Summary
This case began in 2021 when Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) 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 threatened 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 have removed 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.
For more than four years, MEA fought to make sure WMC didn’t succeed in gutting the Spills Law. Between 2021 and 2025, MEA attorneys filed five amicus briefs in the case.
In 2022, a Waukesha County circuit court judge sided with WMC, though he agreed to place a stay on the decision pending final resolution of the case. The stay prevented the decision from taking effect and allowed the DNR to continue cleaning up PFAS contamination and providing bottled water to families whose drinking water has been contaminated. In March 2024, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals upheld the lower court ruling. MEA subsequently filed an amicus brief urging the State Supreme Court to take the case.
The State Supreme Court heard oral arguments on January 14, 2025.
Legal Victory!
Meet our Clients
MEA participated 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 would have been directly impacted by the outcome of the case. Our clients, however, aren’t the only ones who would have been hurt if WMC had prevailed. The outcome of this case would have had real-world implications for virtually every community in the state.
Resources
Beth Neary, MD
Wisconsin Environmental Health Network
News Related to this Case
MEA Secures Legal Victory in Fight to Protect Wisconsinites from Toxic Pollution
For more than four years, MEA fought to make sure Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce didn’t succeed in gutting a law that keeps Wisconsinites safe from exposure to toxic contamination. Our legal fight went all the way to the State Supreme Court, and today we won!
State Supreme Court to Hear Oral Arguments in WMC Toxic Pollution Case on Jan 14
On January 14, the Wisconsin Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case that could have far-reaching implications for the state’s ability to protect Wisconsinites from toxic environmental pollution.
MEA Clients Urge Wisconsin Supreme Court to Reject Attempt by WMC to Undermine State’s Spills Law
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
Appeals Court Decision Could Undermine Wisconsin’s Ability to Address Toxic PFAS Contamination
In a 2-1 decision, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that undermines the state’s ability to regulate PFAS and other emerging contaminants under Wisconsin’s Spills Law. If the decision stands, it could have far-reaching implications for the state’s ability to protect Wisconsinites from toxic environmental pollution.
Decision in WMC Toxic Spills Lawsuit is a Win for Public Health
A Waukesha County Circuit Court has granted a stay on an April decision that limits the state’s authority to address toxic PFAS contamination under Wisconsin’s Spills Law. The ruling will allow the DNR to continue cleaning up PFAS contamination and providing bottled water to families whose drinking water has been contaminated.
MEA Takes Legal Action to Intervene in WMC Toxic Chemical Lawsuit
Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce is suing the DNR in an attempt to undermine a key environmental health protection that keeps Wisconsinites safe from exposure to hazardous substances. MEA is seeking to participate in the lawsuit in order to defend Wisconsin’s Spills Law—a bedrock environmental and public health law that has protected the people of Wisconsin for more than 40 years.