Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group representatives collected personal letters and created a collage on Library Mall Thursday to encourage Gov. Jim Doyle to more strongly enforce the state's water policies.
Noah Carrillo, head of WisPIRG's Clean Water campaign, said Wisconsin has some of the best water laws in the United States but is one of the worst states at enforcing those laws. He added that one-third of Wisconsin facilities exceeded their Clean Water Act permit limits for chemical waste between January 1999 and December 2001, but only 4 percent of the facilities were prosecuted. In 1998, the Department of Justice penalized only six facilities out of 363 violators.
WisPIRG is calling on Gov. Doyle to change this trend because of his 12 years of experience in law enforcement as Wisconsin's Attorney General.
\With Lake Mendota only a block away, we see the effects of water pollution in our everyday life,"" Carrillo said in a press release. ""Governor Doyle has a great opportunity to enforce our water laws, and we are out here today building support for this.""
A UW-Madison employee present at the event said he doubts the personal letters will actually change anything but said he is happy students are showing concern for the environment.
""We have to speak out against it in some way, and this is a way we can target students and the Madison community,"" said UW-Madison freshman and WisPIRG representative Carissa Dilley.
Many of the personal letters to Gov. Doyle call for ""100 percent of facilities monitored and 100 percent of violators fined,"" meaning WisPIRG wants the Dept. of Natural Resources to inspect all major industrial facilities annually and enforce Wisconsin's pollution penalties for Clean Water Act violators.
UW-Madison senior Paul Olson, who wrote a personal letter to Doyle Thursday thinks WisPIRG's concerns are valid.
""The lakes here are gross during the summer,"" he said. ""I went swimming and cut my foot; it didn't heal for three weeks. They're just disgusting.""
Kirtan Gandhi, a UW-Madison junior, works for Madison City Channel 12, which recently hosted a debate about the high phosphorous runoff in Lake Mendota.
""It's good in theory to have laws, but theories are not good unless they are practiced,"" he said.
WisPIRG representatives stress this is only the first step in their campaign, adding they want to ensure the DNR has adequate funding to enforce existing laws.
The group plans to hand-deliver the personal letters and collage to Gov. Doyle in December.
