State Representative Loren Oldenburg (R-Viroqua) represents the 96th assembly district in Western Wisconsin.
Senate Bill 312 is a culmination of negotiations and compromise between lawmakers, interested
parties, and the WI Department of Natural Resources, for one of the most consequential water
quality issues facing our state. This legislation creates a municipal PFAS grant program to assist
local units of government in responding to PFAS contamination and an Innocent Landowners grant program.
The Innocent landowners grant will assists landowners with the cost of temporary drinking water,
water filtration, well replacement, remediation and other expenses that may normally be paid for
by a responsible party if one were to be identified. Currently if you test your water as a landowner and PFAS is found, you can be found to be liable, regardless of whether you were responsible or not. No one from a farmer, a homeowner, the owner of a small business whose water tests positive for PFAS should be responsible to pay for the remediation of the contamination they did not cause. Without this bill, you would have to cover the remediation costs whether you were responsible or not. This is why the Innocent Landowners grant program is so vital.
These two grant programs will be uniquely consequential as landowners nor most municipalities
big or small can’t address the contamination or the costs associated with cleanup of PFAS on their own. PFAS has been found all over the state and the costs are a burden on individuals and the largest of cities alike. It will take action from the state to address this properly.
State Senators Wimberger (R-Green Bay) and Cowles (r-Breen Bay) of the Green Bay area and State Representatives Mursau (R – Crivitz) and Swearingen (R – Rhinelander) have worked tirelessly with the Governor’s office, DNR, and
numerous groups to write this legislation. Following the public hearings in the senate and the
assembly committee of which I am chair, the authors worked with all of us for months to find
compromise on numerous issues leading up to the final amendments adopted.
The final bill the legislature passed was 95% the same as the amendment introduced by my
colleagues on the other side of the aisle. The only significant difference was the Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources authority to go after landowners who aren’t the ones at fault for the contamination. It is crucial that we protect all the innocent landowners from paying this costly remediation, not burdening them with the cost of something they weren’t involved in.
If this bill is vetoed, what will all this work and compromise be for? Everyone has agreed to just
about everything. I’d say that’s an impressive compromise we should be celebrating and moving
forward. Without this, anyone who tests their water can be found to be the responsible party and
they will have to pay for the remediation regardless if they actually caused it. I ask you, how do
you feel about the government forcing you to pay for something you didn’t cause and you most
certainly can’t afford? We need our water to be safe to drink and use. I don’t understand why some are willing to let this contamination continue.
Residents in the Town of Campbell, Peshtigo, the cities of Green Bay, Wausau and Madison and
many others, need this legislation. How much longer must these affected communities live with
these forever chemicals before we work to remediate their problems? Without this bill, the true
extent of the contamination will continue to be unknown. With it, we’ll be able to begin the hard
work of cleaning our water for everyone. I urge the governor to sign this legislation
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