$5.2 million Fox River – Green Bay PCB cleanup agreement announced

WDNR – Today, the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Government and two tribal nations, filed an agreement reached with the City of Green Bay, Brown County and the Army Corps of Engineers totaling $5.2 million covering further clean up of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contaminants dredged from the Fox River.

The agreement is one of several associated with cleanup of PCBs contaminating the Fox River and lower Green Bay and addresses damages to natural resources resulting from redepositing PCB-laden sediments, dredged from the navigation channel, into Green Bay waters. The sediments were deposited in locations designated as confined disposal facilities (CDFs). The Bayport CDF has since been improved and the Renard Island CDF is no longer used.

The dredging was done by the Army Corps of Engineers prior to this practice being banned by Wisconsin state law.

Under the proposed Consent Decree, Brown County and the City of Green Bay would each pay $350,000 and the United States Government would pay $4.5 million. Most of the payment ($4,350,000) is directed to natural resources damages (NRD) with $850,000 directed to past and future response costs. The payment shares, say officials, reflect the roles of the Corps, the County and the City in the resulting damages to natural resources.

"This agreement represents another step forward in completing the Fox River cleanup and restoration of damaged natural resources," said DNR Secretary Matt Frank. "I am pleased with the cooperation of the parties to the proposed Consent Decree and the assurance this success gives the citizens of Wisconsin for a timely completion of the world's largest PCB cleanup."

http://dnr.wi.gov/org/water/wm/foxriver