As always, the devil is in the details but the Army Corps seems to want to bucket dredge which will stir up more toxins. I wonder if the folks doing the cleanup with a suction hose can do this work as well? The infrastructure is there already, no? How would the prices compare?
It seems to me if the county didn't want to pay for Renard Island, then they shouldn't have built it. Now it seems the lowest cost closure option is chosen over and over. They even want the city to take ownership and ongoing maintenance. I believe the port is a benefit to the entire area. I also believe the costs of closure and ongoing maintenance for this island filled with dredgings so that ships can reach the port should be borne by that larger area.
Almost everyone agrees that the island needs to be capped and closed. But the cheapest option is not always the safest and healthiest. PCBs are toxic. They cause cancer and cancer kills people. One would think Brown County would want to step up to protect it's busiest park. One would think the DNR would step up to protect the residents and visitors to our area. One would think... There are concerns and a petition circulating please evaluate the facts for yourself and consider adding your name.
Scientists have been working for years to find, breed or engineer microorganisms that break these things down. It'd be nice if we could simply rid ourselves of the PCBs altogether but the science isn't there yet. We will continue to struggle with this issue until it is.
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