Environmentalists worry that Manitowoc, and many other cities that lie on the Great Lakes, will be harmed in the long-run by the nearly 7 million gallons of water per day that will be diverted to Mount Pleasant.
Environmental groups are using new tactics to contest the Foxconn Technology Group project in Racine County. The Midwest Environmental Advocates learned last week that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) granted their request for a contested case hearing to challenge Wisconsin’s approval of diverting 7 million gallons of water from Lake Michigan to supply Mount Pleasant, the future home of Foxconn.
Environmentalists are worried that the 7 million gallon per day water diversion will harm the Great Lakes and set a dangerous precedent. Mount Pleasant, within Racine County, was approved for the diversion after being labeled a “straddling community,” meaning it lies partly within the Great Lakes basin and partly outside of the Great Lakes basin, according to the Wisconsin DNR.
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This DNR Map shows where Mount Pleasant, a straddling community, lies within the Lake Michigan basin (DNR).
Jimmy Parra, staff attorney for Midwest Environmental Advocates, said it was “vital” to challenge Wisconsin’s approval. Midwest Environmental Advocates is a nonprofit environmental law center based in Madison.
“Wisconsin DNR’s interpretation of public water supply purposes, if not corrected, creates a glaring loophole that opens our region to a potential onslaught of diversions to other private entities, jeopardizing the intent and integrity of the Great Lakes Compact,” said Parra.
The Great Lakes Compact, signed by Congress in 2008, banned diversions of water out of the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence River Basin. Wisconsin then passed legislation in 2008 to implement the compact within the state. It said that within a straddling community, “all of the water so transferred shall be used solely for public water supply purposes within the straddling community.”
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Midwest Environmental Advocates pointed out that the Compact says that any diversions should be “serving a group of largely residential customers.” They say that the diversion will be benefiting Foxconn, a private industrial user.
On May 25, the Midwest Environmental Advocates filed a legal action on behalf of multiple petitioners. “It’s not right for one state to redefine the rules for the Great Lakes Compact without input from all states and provinces co-managing the largest freshwater resource on the planet,” said Kathryn Hoffman, CEO of Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy.
The DNR approved Racine’s application to be a straddling community last April. The DNR said in a press release that “Racine's requested 7 million gallons per day withdrawal would only amount to a 0.07 percent increase in the total surface water withdrawals from Lake Michigan.” The DNR said that the diversion does meet "public water supply purposes,” as it will serve largely residential customers. The press release also said that Foxconn will “work with the City of Racine to meet pretreatment requirements for wastewater,” as the city will have to return the water to Lake Michigan.
"We received approximately 800 comments on the Racine application, which shows the public's strong interest in this topic," said Adam Freihoefer, water use section chief for the Bureau of Drinking Water and Groundwater, in an April press release. "We appreciate the public's involvement and I thank those who took the time to comment."
A date has not yet been selected for the hearing. A spokesperson for the DNR said it is not their practice to comment on pending or ongoing litigation.
Foxconn announced Tuesday that they will be investing a $30 million zero liquid discharge system in order to reduce the facility's water intake requirements. Foxconn says this will virtually eliminate the return of any manufacturing process waste water to the Lake.
"One of the reasons we chose to locate in Wisconsin is the state's pristine environment, and we take our responsibility to preserve it seriously," said Dr. Louis Woo, special assistant to Foxconn founder and CEO Terry Gou. "This system will be state-of-the-art technology to reduce the water our facility needs to operate by millions of gallons per day. We not only seek to comply with all regulations where we do business, we also work to exceed them when possible."
