Clean Wisconsin Files Lawsuit Supporting DNR’s Authority to Protect State’s Drinking Water

To ensure that the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) uses its authority to protect clean, safe drinking water in Wisconsin, Clean Wisconsin filed a petition for review today of the recent decision on the Kinnard Farms wastewater permit. A recent position by the Department of Justice reversed an October 2014 administrative law order that required Kinnard Farms, a large animal feeding operation in Kewaunee County, to enact sensible protections to reduce groundwater pollution from animal waste.

EPA Releases Final Clean Power Plan

MADISON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized the Clean Power Plan today, putting in motion the first-ever limits on dangerous carbon pollution emissions from existing electric-generating power plants to curb climate change pollution and protect public health.

Under the Lens: Blue-Green Algae

A bacteria called cyanobacteria, blue-green algae is almost always present in Wisconsin lakes, but its quantity is kept in check by other aquatic organisms such as zooplankton and a limited amount of nutrients essential for growth, like phosphorous and nitrogen. However, when there are excess nutrients, an abundance of sunlight and calm water, the conditions become right for cyanobacteria to grow exponentially. Discharge from water treatment and food-processing plants, fertilizer runoff from fields, and leaching from animal waste are some of the biggest contributors of excess nutrients in Wisconsin lakes.