AFTER FOX CLEAN-UP COMES COMPENSATION
Part 2 of 2 | Read Part 1

by Jeff Decker

GREEN BAY -- Compensation negotiations have been put on hold until a payment deal is reached to clean the Fox River of PCBs.

"The more that is cleaned up, the less the natural resources damage assessment will be," said Bill Hartwig, regional administrator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In the meantime, he said, the government doesn't want to confuse the public with two multi-million dollar actions concerning pollution.

"We're after the work being done for these resources they've lost in the past and will continue to lose in the future," he said. In October of 2000 the Fish and Wildlife Service released a damage assessment, placing the value of those lost resources between $177 and $303 million for the extensive damage wrought in the region by discharged polychlorinated biphenyls.

PCBs are known to cause neurological and developmental problems in fish and wildlife, and have been linked to many other disorders and diseases, including cancer. Those contaminants have stifled some species and driven off others, brought the nation's first swim advisories, and limited the once-vast fishing and fowl hunting.

In November, the Wisconsin DNR signed a deal with Georgia Pacific Corp., securing $7 million for its portion of environmental damage. The federal and state plans were on a collision course to court.

In March, newly appointed DNR Secretary Bazzell put the GP deal on hold and entered negotiations with the Fish and Wildlife Service to reach a common settlement. The agencies had drifted apart the prior summer. According to a spokeswoman for the governor's office, Gov. Scott McCallum is glad Bazzell has been more open to cooperation, but the governor did not suggest or order it.

Negotiations are underway with all seven potentially responsible paper mills, said Bruce Baker, a top water quality official at the state DNR. "I can't say when any other agreements might be reached," he said. "Obviously, if the mills want to, they could speed things up."

Trustees behind the Fish and Wildlife Service's assessment include the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians of Michigan, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency. Tom Nelson, environmental specialist with the Oneidas, said the talks are moving well and taking the best of both assessments. "It's not even about finding middle ground; it's about finding what's fair for the public."

So far, the only project the two groups have agreed to publicly is the restoration of the Cat Island chain in Green Bay. Other recreational, restoration and conservation programs will be announced in time.

"You're going to see lists of projects that are going to be done. Dollars are not what we're after," said Hartwig.

No damage assessments have been done by the DNR for mills other than Georgia Pacific, but Baker said there is ample data available from them, the companies and the federal government.

Local advocates and scientists criticized both plans for being too low, but were especially harsh on the DNR/GP deal. Neither plan considered loss to commercial fishing, but the DNR plan was based entirely on only four species and used modern animal populations as the base of what healthy levels should be.

In June, a $40 million agreement was reached with Appleton Papers and NCR Corporation. The dollars will be split between preliminary clean-up and compensation projects. Officials are meeting weekly to determine how to spend that money but have not met since July to reach agreement on Georgia Pacific's share.

Clean-up has always been the priority issue, said Baker. "That's the whole reason we started working with the river." He said there was no formal order to prioritize clean-up from anyone, though Bazzell holds the authority.

Rep. Judy Krawcyzk, R-Green Bay, said many area leaders and residents are concerned that compensation projects might take dollars from clean-up. "(The mills) only have so much to spend," she said.

State Sen. Gary George, D-Milwaukee, is glad the groups are talking but said the final settlement will be weighed down by the DNR's assessment, which he calls "woefully inadequate."

In January, the Legislative Audit Bureau completed a limited review of the DNR/GP deal that was ordered by George. Among other discrepancies, the audit bureau noted that one conservation project paid for under the deal, the acquisition of 700 acres of land and wetland along the Peshtigo River, exceeds the allowed stewardhip amount the DNR may pay without Joint Finance Committee consultation -- $250,000. The land could cost as much as $1 million.

"As governor, if I can find a way to open it back up, I will," said George, one of four Democrats running for governor next year. He also criticized the Department of Justice, which was a signatory on the DNR deal.

A spokesperson for Attorney General Jim Doyle, also a candidate for governor, said the DOJ was at the table only as legal representation for the DNR.

Green Bay resident Rebecca Katers, executive director of the Clean Water Action Council, said area residents don't appreciate that they are being reimbursed for decades of damage.

"Through all of this, there's been no compensation for the effects on human health," she said. Katers has spent the last months compiling a PCB database at www.foxriverwatch.com, where she has posted studies suggesting PCBs contribute to scores of diseases, including cancer, Parkinson's disease and even diabetes.

Jeff Decker is a former staff writer for the Green Bay News Chronicle.

READ PART 1

Other news on the agreement: