Scott Walker's 2018 re-election could hinge on his beloved Foxconn project breaking ground in rural Racine County.
And the Foxconn operation will depend on receiving a daily diversion of 7 million gallons of water every day from Lake Michigan.
But serious objections to the diversion's wisdom and legality under the Great Lakes Compact were raised by citizens at a public hearing earlier this month.
Additional objections across the Great Lakes region were mentioned in this non-partisan media report; I also wrote that some objections are amplified by Walker's damage to Wisconsin's environment and his debasement of the Department of Natural Resources - - the state agency which will review and can approve the Foxconn diversion application, all discussed here:
And the Foxconn operation will depend on receiving a daily diversion of 7 million gallons of water every day from Lake Michigan.
But serious objections to the diversion's wisdom and legality under the Great Lakes Compact were raised by citizens at a public hearing earlier this month.
Additional objections across the Great Lakes region were mentioned in this non-partisan media report; I also wrote that some objections are amplified by Walker's damage to Wisconsin's environment and his debasement of the Department of Natural Resources - - the state agency which will review and can approve the Foxconn diversion application, all discussed here:
...the heavily-resisted push for a Lake Michigan diversion for Foxconn adds to Wisconsin's status as a Great Lakes environmental outlier.Now we have additional reporting about those policy on today's Huffington Post website:
A letter from New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation quoted the compact’s requirement that water diverted to nearby communities largely serve residential customers.
“Here, it is unclear that the proposed diversion is largely for residential customers,” the letter said. “The water is intended to facilitate the construction and operation of the future industrial site.”
New York also questioned whether Wisconsin could unilaterally approve the deal, saying the compact’s general prohibition of new diversions “favors and potentially mandates” review by the other states bordering the lakes.
A letter from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office said the utilities involved in the project haven’t made clear how they would treat wastewater from the Foxconn plant before ultimately releasing it back into Lake Michigan. They argue that Racine should not be able to exceed the amounts defined in its current permit for returning wastewater to the lake.Here is a link to a complete archive of posts about the Foxconn project I've been compiled since July.