Fresh, November 28, 2023: Proposed Land Swap in Wisconsin Could Set Harmful Precedent, Conservationists Say

November 28, 2023

Fresh is a biweekly newsletter from Circle of Blue that unpacks the biggest international, state, and local policy news stories facing the Great Lakes region today. Sign up for Fresh: A Great Lakes Policy Briefing, straight to your inbox, every other Tuesday.

— Christian Thorsberg, Interim Fresh Editor

This Week’s Watersheds

The EPA has provided the Gun Lake Tribal Utility Authority with a $56 million loan to build wastewater facilities and other water improvements on its western Michigan land.
Conservationists are protesting a proposed land swap that would see five acres of Kohler-Andrae State Park in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, turned into a golf course.
A later-than-normal shipping closure for the St. Lawrence Seaway has environmentalists concerned about the risk of potentially debilitating spills.
Living cover crops could help reduce nitrate runoff, Minnesota farmers find.

Environmental lawyers, residents, and activists in East Chicago, Indiana, are calling for tighter state restrictions to limit discharges from Cleveland-Cliffs Indiana Harbor into Lake Michigan.

“Northwest Indiana is proud of its steel history, but the mills’ pollution control technologies should not be stuck in the past. [The Indiana Department of Environmental Management] needs to toughen water permits now so companies like Cleveland-Cliffs are compelled to modernize and reduce wastewater discharges that harm nearby residents and waterways.” — Mike Zoeller, senior attorney at the Environmental Law and Policy Center.

More than 5 million pounds of discharge — oils, greases, and solids — enter Lake Michigan each year from the Cleveland-Cliffs Indiana Harbor, one of the largest steel-making facilities in North America. Bad water quality hurts wildlife and nearby residents, most of whom are low-income and already burdened by air pollutants in the industrial community, the Times of Northwest Indiana reports.

In response, environmental groups, including the Environmental Law and Policy Center and Environmental Integrity Project, “filed comments with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management last week asking for tougher water permit standards under the Clean Water Act,” the Times reports. Updating old treatment technology and prioritizing controls on toxic mercury are two key aims.

The filings come as Cleveland-Cliffs prepares to renew a five-year permit for its steel mills, which together “discharge 193 million gallons of wastewater a day” into Lake Michigan.

Fresh from the Great Lakes News Collaborative

EPA proposes further restrictions on flame retardant chemical used in wiring — Michigan Radio
As rain patterns evolve in Michigan, farmers adjust to droughts and deluges — Bridge Michigan
Wisconsin agency’s expanded mission led to record $450 million investment in Milwaukee waterways — Great Lakes Now

The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader. We work together to produce news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water. This independent journalism is supported by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Find all the work here.

Proposed Kohler-Andrae State Park Land Swap Draws Criticism from Conservationists

Kohler-Andrae State Park, which is two separate state parks near Sheboygan, Wisconsin, is a natural preserve of dunes, wetlands, forests and beaches along the shores of Lake Michigan.

But this sensitive ecosystem, “a type of area that is now rare due to centuries of development,” is facing potential disruption: a land swap between the state park and a private company that would convert five acres of the landscape into a luxury golf course, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

Conservation groups including the Friends of the Black River Forest and the Sierra Club gathered in the state capital Madison last week, asking Gov. Tony Evers to block the proposed deal with the Kohler Company. Losing this natural land, the groups say, would not only bring great harm to a vulnerable freshwater habitat, but set a dangerous precedent for future land swaps near the Great Lakes.

The swap was originally signed off in 2018 by then-governor Scott Walker. As part of the deal, the company would receive five acres of wetland and a two-acre easement inside the park, in exchange for a nine-acre plot west of Kohler-Andrae, the Journal Sentinel reports.

The five-acre wetland is an important habitat for birds and other wildlife. Opponents are also concerned about the effects of construction — and the pollution that comes with it — on the health of the state park and visitors’ experiences.

In the News

Gun Lake Tribal Authority Utility: The Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish-Band of Pottawatomi Indians, also known as the Gun Lake Tribe, will be receiving a $56 million loan from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to construct a new wastewater treatment plant, groundwater wells, and elevated storage tanks, among other water projects, Michigan Live reports. The loan, which is expected to cover about 80 percent of the projects’ combined expenses, “comes through the EPA’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act.”

Living Cover Crops: A pervasive amount of nitrate-contaminated drinking water in southeastern Minnesota has prompted the EPA to order the state to address the crisis, Circle of Blue reports. Some farmers are taking one possible step toward reducing this amount of the chemical runoff, Minnesota Public Radio reports. They are planting “living cover crops” which protect the soil and use deep roots to “absorb excess nitrogen from the soil.” A perennial grain called Kernza, planted in the fall and harvested in the spring, is one of the leading difference-makers. Research so far suggests “that if adopted on a medium-range number of acres across the state, [continuous living cover crops] have the potential to reduce nitrogen loss by more than 20 percent, soil erosion by 35 percent and increase farmers’ net profits by about 20 percent by 2050.”

Looking Ahead

Extension Hesitance: As a result of the workers’ strike which shut down the St. Lawrence Seaway for one week this fall, shipments on the river will continue (weather-permitting) through the first week of January, the latest seasonal closing date in history, WWT-TV reports. But the extension has environmentalists concerned: if oil or chemical spills were to happen that late in the season, when the potential for ice coverage is high, cleanup procedures could be severely hampered. Not only could the toxic spill remain in waters for months, until springtime thaws, but first responders face heightened dangers due to the inclement, freezing weather.

Upcoming Events

November 28 — Seiche & Winter Weather Shoreline Preparedness Webinar — register

December 4 — How Environmental Justice Law & Policy Has Been Shaping Great Lakes Protection & Restoration — learn more and register

December 12 — State of the Western Lake Erie Basin Conference — learn more

Other News

Solid Waste for Recycling Grants: The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, and Seneca Nation of Indians, who live along the St. Lawrence River and Niagara River, respectively, were also recipients of federal funds this month, receiving $2 million from the EPA to expand “recycling and education for waste management systems across both nations,” the Watertown Daily Times reports.

Energy Pricing: A new report from Illinois-based PLG Consulting suggests that the potential shutdown of Enbridge Energy’s Line 5 pipeline would have “a minimal impact on natural gas prices,” Michigan Radio reports.

Christian Thorsberg

Christian Thorsberg is an environmental writer from Chicago. He is passionate about climate and cultural phenomena that often appear slow or invisible, and he examines these themes in his journalism, poetry, and fiction.