Report lists McCain Foods, Wausau Paper as main contributors

By Cara Spoto
Journal staff

More industrial discharge makes its way into the Wisconsin River than any other waterway in the state, but Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources officials say that isn't surprising because it is the longest and hardest-working river in the state.

According to data collected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 2007 Toxic Releases Inventory, the most recent data available, industrial facilities dumped 4.1 million pounds of chemicals into Wisconsin waterways in 2007. The Wisconsin River received 1.5 million pounds of those chemicals, ranking it 38th in the nation for most discharges.

"The EPA has a program required under the Clean Water Act that companies that have permits to discharge toxic chemicals into rivers have to self-report how much they are dumping and what," said Dan Kohler, director of Wisconsin Environment.

McCain Foods in Plover dumped the highest amount of chemicals into the Wisconsin River with 533,000 pounds of ammonia and nitrate compounds in 2007, according to the report.

Nitrates are found in fertilizers, human sewage and animal waste. The DNR, which issues discharge permits to entities in Wisconsin, does not have surface water quality standards for nitrates, DNR water resources manager Joe Schmidt said. He added that the agency takes its cues from the EPA, which does not have information on nitrate toxicity in fish or plants.

Kohler said people should be concerned about nitrates in the river because of the chemical's potential to create algae blooms. If the blooms are large enough, they can choke out plants and fish, Kohler said.

Dierdre Dickerson, director of corporate communications for McCain Foods, said the company follows all environmental guidelines, ensuring that the materials entering the water are properly broken down.

"At our plant in Plover, our waste treatment system is operated so that the nitrogen contained in the potato proteins is broken down to ammonia and then converted into nitrates per environmental regulations," Dickerson said. "It's a natural process."

Two other big dischargers were Domtar Corp., which released several metal and chemical compounds, including ammonia, mercury and formaldehyde, from its locations in Port Edwards and Rothschild, and Wausau Paper, which released similar compounds, such as ammonia, methanol and copper, from its locations in Mosinee, Rhinelander and Brokaw.

Other companies that discharged chemicals into the river were: 3M Co. in Wausau, ERCO Worldwide Holding Inc. in Nekoosa, Foremost Farms USA in Plover and Rothschild, Lignotech USA Inc. in Rothschild, Milwaukee Valve Company in Prairie du Sac, Packaging Corp. of America in Tomahawk, NewPage in Wisconsin Rapids and the Weston Power Plant in Rothschild.

According to DNR Water Program Manager Dan Bauman, the DNR monitors all dischargers who have permits, and performs inspections to ensure they are complying with the permit guidelines. Bauman, who works out of Eau Claire, said he isn't aware of any serious discharge violations on the river in recent years.

He said he isn't surprised that the river receives the most discharges in the state.

"It's certainly the most developed, the longest and the hardest-working river in the state. It stretches the length of our state, north to south, and half of it, east to west. Look up and down at all the municipalities located along it. The state was built on this river," he said.

Still, Bob Chojnowski of Plover, avid fisherman and vice-chairman of the Portage County Conservation Congress, said he believes no plant should be able to release chemicals into the river.

"You never know, either accidentally or on purpose, what could happen," Chojnowski said.