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August 27, 2008
Milwaukee Riverkeeper advocates
for strong ballast legislation
Friends of Milwaukee's Rivers
and the Milwaukee Riverkeeper co-wrote a letter to the U.S.
Senate this month asking Senators not to support changes to
H.R. 2830, the Coast Guard Authorization Act. The bill
is aimed at controlling the spread of invasive species via
ballast water. FMR and other environmental groups feel
that the bill does not go far enough in controlling invasive
species, and may undermine the authority of the Clean Water
Act.
Letter to Majority Leader Reid and Minority Leader McConnell
August 23, 2008
Milwaukee Riverkeeper recommends
updating water quality standards
Milwaukee Riverkeeper and other
groups wrote a letter to the Wisconsin DNR recommending that
the DNR review and update the state's water quality
standards. The Clean Water Act, passed in 1972,
requires states to review standards once every three years.
Many of Wisconsin's standards have not been reviewed or
revised since adopted up to 30 years ago.
Letter
to Wisconsin DNR
August 22, 2008
Milwaukee Riverkeeper spurs
$24.4 million cleanup of the Kinnickinnic River
Governer Jim Doyle announced
Wednesday that the Kinnickinnic River will receive an
extensive cleanup next Spring. 170,000 cubic yards of
contaminated sediment will be removed from a 2,000-foot
section of the river.
The Kinnickinnic River had long
been neglected, contaminated by PCBs and littered with
shopping carts, tires and other trash. Friends of
Milwaukee's Rivers and our Milwaukee Riverkeeper, Cheryl
Nenn, worked for two years to bring recognition to
Milwaukee's "forgotten river". Last year our efforts
were successful when the KK was named one of the nation's 10
"Most Endangered Rivers" by American Rivers.
Almost instantly after receiving
the status as an endangered river, the wheels of government
moved into high gear. People were aware of the sediment
problem for many years, but there was no available funding
for the cleanup. Since the designation, the governor has put
funding in his budget for cleaning up the river, and the EPA
moved it into their top priority for Legacy Act funding. As
of this week, all the funding is in place. Dredging
will begin next Spring and will be completed by the end of
2009.
Thanks to Cheryl for all her
hard work on this project!
Article in Journal Sentinel
August
22, 2008
City of Milwaukee supports
Milwaukee River Work Group recommendations
The Department of City
Development announced today that it will honor the building
height and setback recommendations made by the Milwaukee
River Work Group.
The Milwaukee River Work Group (MRWG)
has been working to define guidelines for new development
along the portion of the Milwaukee River corridor known as
the Milwaukee River Greenway. MRWG's goal is to
protect the primary environmental corridor form disturbance,
as well as to protect the "viewshed" from the level of the
river. That means that new developments near the river
would be limited to a height of 45 feet and would be set
back 50 feet from the primary environmental corridor.
MRWG is a collaborative group of
nonprofits, individuals and elected officials working to
protect the Milwaukee River Greenway. Friends of
Milwaukee's Rivers is the fiscal sponsor of the group.
MRWG home
page
Email Ann Brummitt, MRWG coordinator to be included in
updates
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