Eau Claire means "clear water" in French, but to the state Republican Pollution Party -
- which also runs the Wisconsin Legislature, Wisconsin's 8th largest city is just a stop on the northwestern leg on those same lawmakers' [sic] 'Enjoy Your Toxic Water Tour,' noted on this blog five weeks ago:
WI's gerrymandered GOP legislators say they will delete funding to replace lead water pipes; they did the same thing two years ago because too many kids in Milwaukee might have gotten the benefit.
And to stay consistent with that embrace of lead-laden household water pipes and their long-standing support of animal waste in well water, Republican legislators are refusing to write statewide standards into the budget that would speed the removal of toxic "forever chemicals" from state waters.
And here's a one-month timeline which Eau Claire might have trouble swallowing:
PFAS detected in City of Eau Claire wells
According to a release by the City of Eau Claire, four city wells were found to have PFAS levels that exceeded newly-recommended safety levels that were instituted in June by the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resource and the Wisconsin Dept. of Health Services. City officials say that the four wells were immediately shut off.
Republicans eliminate proposed DNR programs from budget, including several measures to fight 'forever chemical' contamination
Republican lawmakers in charge of the state's budget-writing process eliminated a number of key initiatives aimed at confronting a growing number of "forever chemical" contaminations across the state.
Members of the state's Joint Finance Committee voted Thursday to eliminate 11 proposed scientist positions for the Department of Natural Resources, a grant program for communities fighting a contamination and a program that would test all public water supplies for the toxic chemicals.
Previously removed from the budget were several other measures, including standards for PFAS, measures to force businesses found to have released the chemicals into the environment to take responsibility and funding for certified PFAS testing labs and hazardous substance discharge investigations.
And, remember, you've been warned, Monroe County!
And Dane County.
