Direct Discharge Into Wisconsin River Captured in Cell Phone Videos
- Thomas Street Project, Wisconsin River
- June 21, 2019
A member of Citizens for a Clean Wausau recorded the discharge near the Thomas Street bridge on his cell phone and provided the images and video to the City of Wausau and the WDNR
In a Wausau Pilot & Review article this week, Shereen Siewert states, “City officials were unaware of the improper discharge until a member of Citizens for a Clean Wausau brought the images, including photos and videos, to their attention. State Department of Natural Resources officials were also notified of the discovery, prompting a directive to crews to cease all dewatering at the construction site and provide an explanation of how long the dumping was occurring.”
The full June 20, 2019, Wausau Pilot & Review article, Thomas Street project runoff pours into Wisconsin River, can be found here.
There should be no direct discharge into the river such as this, according to the City’s Public Works department.
After receiving photos of the discharge, Public Works Director, Eric Lindman, notified the City inspector overseeing the project of the issue and states that it has been corrected.
Two cell phone videos showing the direct discharge into the Wisconsin River, as well as additional footage of the discharging hose and pump, can be found below.
In the period of roughly one year, awareness of Citizens for a Clean Wausau’s pollution-monitoring activities has increased. Efforts and research of the group’s volunteers have been at the center of numerous media reports and investigations, from local outlets to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and carried nationally through the Associated Press.
This spring, Citizens for a Clean Wausau won a 2019 state watchdog award from the Freedom of Information Council for research which spurred the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to open an investigation into the burning of approximately 4,800 tons of wood waste per year at a former Wausau manufacturing site.
