Sept. 6, 2002 -- The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) asked a federal court recently to dismiss a lawsuit brought by two environmental groups because it "would be a waste of taxpayers' money."
The lawsuit, filed in March 2002 by the Lake Michigan Federation and Friends of Milwaukee Rivers, stems from sewerage overflows into area waterways. In a brief filed with the Federal Court in Milwaukee last week, MMSD argues that the lawsuit duplicates efforts already undertaken by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last spring to address the overflows.
The Clean Water Act prohibits private suits when federal or state governments have already taken enforcement action.
"MMSD has an unwavering commitment to make the investments necessary to reduce overflows to Lake Michigan even further," said MMSD Commission Chairman Antonio Riley, a state representative from Milwaukee. "But more litigation is not the right answer. It will not help us reach our goals faster. It's a waste of taxpayer money for MMSD to fight a lawsuit over issues that are already being actively addressed."
Riley said MMSD worked with the two environmental groups prior to filing the lawsuit, but an agreement was not able to be reached.
"Our job is to protect the taxpayers and we were unwilling to give into unreasonable demands, including demands for money to fund these groups' future activities," he said.
The lawsuit seeks to assess monetary penalties when overflows occur. MMSD argues that such penalties are not appropriate because the overflows, which are not illegal, occur only when it is absolutely necessary because of heavy rainfall.
"Fining MMSD when overflows occur will do nothing to reduce overflows or improve water quality," said Kevin Shafer, executive director of MMSD. "But it will be costly to taxpayers."
Over the past 10 years MMSD has dramatically reduced the number of overflows from an average of 50 a year to 2.6 because of its capital improvement projects, including the Deep Tunnel System. In addition, MMSD has had fewer overflows than any other comparable sewerage systems of its size in the United States.
"We are proud of our accomplishments but also understand that we must continue to reduce the number of sewer overflows," Shafer said.
Source: Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, http://www.mmsd.com
