Posted on August 18, 2020
After 16 years and $1 billion, dredging of the Fox River is finished.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Andrew Wheeler made the announcement Wednesday morning in Green Bay.
Wheeler called the completion of dredging a “significant milestone for Green Bay and for Wisconsin.”
According to Wheeler, the project has removed 6.5 million cubic yards of pollutants called PCBs from a 39-mile stretch of the lower Fox River. PCBs are chemicals that were once used in the papermaking process.
Wheeler said PCB concentrations in water upstream of the De Pere dam have been reduced by 90% since 2006. Over the same time frame, PCB concentrations in walleye have declined by 65%. Wheeler says those numbers should continue to decline for the next 10-30 years. The EPA will continue to monitor the site, officials said.
Several paper companies are paying for the cleanup. Wheeler said it took 15 court cases to sort out which companies would pay how much.
The final dredging was done on June 2. Wheeler said finishing touches on the project are expected to wrap up by the end of August.
FOX 11’s Eric Peterson is covering the announcement and will have a full report tonight on FOX 11 News.
Wheeler has been spending time in Northeast Wisconsin this week. On Tuesday, he appeared in Marinette to announce that the Lower Menominee River was being removed from the list of polluted areas around the Great Lakes.
Source: coastalnewstoday
