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May 31, 2006
Wildlife bonanza in Wauwatosa
One of our members called to
report an exciting wildlife sighting. He was in downtown
Wauwatosa on Thursday, and between the railroad bridge and
the pedestrian bridge he saw a beaver! He said that he was
only 6 feet away and that the beaver slapped his tail in
unmistakable beaver form. Apparently, there was a large
crowd there witnessing it. We heard rumors last year of
beaver sightings near Miller Park and in Jacobus Park, but
we never got confirmation.
The same member also saw a wild turkey across from the
Aurora Hospice on Honey Creek Parkway, and another member
reported seeing one at his birdfeeder at 80th and Milwaukee
Avenue. Keep your eyes open for more exciting wildlife, and
let us know if you see any!
May 22, 2006
Bald eagles nest in Mequon
 A
pair of bald eagles nesting in Mequon is believed to be the
first pair to nest in south-eastern Wisconsin in a century.
Because the birds eat fish, they
would not settle along the Milwaukee River unless it was
clean enough to support a good fish population.
Journal Sentinel article
May 17, 2006
Water monitors in waders: a
successful training
Early in May, Friends of Milwaukee’s Rivers initiated its
first water quality-monitoring program in conjunction with
the WDNR and River Alliance of Wisconsin. It was a long day,
but a successful one. Twelve volunteers completed a 6+ hour
training conducted by FMR and WDNR staff.
The training began with an
informative power point presentation at the Urban Ecology
Center. Volunteers learned the ins and outs of monitoring
the water quality of a river. Volunteers became adept at
calibrating sophisticated equipment and reporting data.
After a hearty potluck lunch volunteers applied their new
skills on the Milwaukee River. Volunteers showed their
ability to measure pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, and
temperature on the river. All volunteers became DNR
certified water monitors.
The twelve volunteers will be monitoring the water quality
of rivers throughout the Milwaukee River Basin from May to
September using DNR-approved protocol. The data they collect
will be available in an online database (coming soon). Our
hats are off to their efforts!
Photos of trainings
Learn about
becoming a water quality monitor
May 5, 2006
Guilt by correlation?
A preliminary study may be
raising a legitimate warning flag about whether there is a
connection between partially treated wastewater bypasses
into Lake Michigan and childhood illnesses in Milwaukee.
What's needed is evidence, and that means a full study by a
solidly objective group or agency, such as the Milwaukee
Health Department in conjunction with academics from
universities and colleges.
Journal Sentinel editorial
May 3, 2006
Sewage issues warrant further
study
Lynn Broaddus,
PhD, MBA, Executive Director of Friends of Milwaukee's
Rivers
Sewage blending - doesn't sound
very appetizing, does it? The practice of 'blending'
partially treated sewage with fully treated sewage is a
permissible, if controversial, practice under certain,
limited situations.
The idea is that when its pouring rain and the sewage
treatment plant is at full capacity, it's better to take a
shortcut than to dump completely untreated sewage. But
because of the rapid chlorination and the fact that the
sewage misses the biological treatment, there is a higher
level of viruses and bacteria entering the water.
This week we read about a preliminary study released by the
Medical College of Wisconsin which found that the Children's
Hospital of Wisconsin's Emergency Room saw an increased
number of patients for diarrhea and related problems during
two large 'blending' events in 2003 and 2004. (Full
story) You may have read that the lead
investigator is my husband, Dr. Marc Gorelick. What's that
about?, you may ask.
Marc, who has been very candid about his relationship with
Friends of Milwaukee's Rivers, has a long-standing research
interest in the public health aspects of emergency room
visits, including diarrhea and dehydration.
The solid research reputation that he has helped build for
the pediatric emergency program was cited as one of the
reasons the emergency room of Children's Hospital of
Wisconsin was ranked as the #1 program in the country by
Child, Inc. magazine.
It was entirely Marc's idea (not mine) to study the
correlation between sewage blending and emergency room
visits. Last year he asked me how to get the data on sewage
blending. It's publicly available information, but it helps
to know where to look. Cheryl Nenn, our Riverkeeper, helped
Marc and coauthor Dr. Ryan Redman obtain the data and
understand the sewage treatment process. Knowing that the
results would be subject to extreme scrutiny, he brought
medical statistician Daniel Eastwood onto the team to review
their analysis.
As the newspaper headline states, his work raises a 'red
flag'. It's not the final word, but it raises enough
questions about this controversial practice that it
certainly merits further investigation.
Which brings us to perhaps the most important revelation
that has come from
this: how are we supposed to know when sewage spills occur?
Today's paper carried a report about three 'blending' events
from 2004 that turned out to be events that skipped the
primary sewage treatment as well as the secondary sewage
treatment. (Full
story) As you can see from
MMSD's own website, this does not meet the definition of
'blending'.
The timing of these two stories is not unrelated. During the
background work that Riverkeeper Cheryl Nenn did for the
study, she noticed that the list of blending events were
coded differently. As it turns out, these codes led us to
the realization that MMSD was including on its report of
'blending' three events that skipped even primary treatment.
This would seem to be a clear violation of the spirit of the
water quality permit, even if it somehow fell through a
loophole.
Friends of Milwaukee's Rivers, along with our partners at
NRDC, Sierra Club, and Midwest Environmental Advocates, met
with the Wisconsin DNR last week to get answers about this
and a number of other issues regarding Wisconsin's sewage
blending policies. We will continue to press for
accountability and transparency on all issues that stand
between the citizens and clean water.
If you have suggestions or additional information to share
with us, please contact us. The more we know, the more we
can help.
May 3, 2006
Dumping slips by officials
Members of the commission that
governs the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District say
they were unaware that virtually raw sewage was dumped into
Lake Michigan at least three times in 2004.
Journal Sentinel article
May 1, 2006
Kids’ illnesses raise ‘red flag’
A study presented Sunday at a
national gathering of pediatric professionals raises a "red
flag" about whether there is a connection between the
dumping of partially treated wastewater into Lake Michigan
and what researchers say is an increase in emergency room
visits by children suffering from gastrointestinal illness.
Journal Sentinel article
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