Today residents and activists gathered at Bender Park in Oak Creek to release the Sierra Club’s newest white paper: Electric Power Plants, Oil and Natural Gas Threats to Water Quality. The white paper discusses the important connection between water and the energy. Approximately 70 percent of all water used in Wisconsin is used to generate electricity and about 30 percent of all energy in the state is used to move water. This connection between the transportation, use, and disposal of waste from fuels and water pose significant risks.
"I served as the youth and family director at North Cape Lutheran in Franksville from 2012-2016. My heart was broken for our Sunday School kids who attended Yorkville and were exposed high levels of molybdenum. Because of the church's proximity to Yorkville Elementary, as well as other wells that were contaminated, we stopped using our well water for drinking and brought in bottled water. I remember feeling like we all were part of an uncontrolled, reckless experiment, where we were the guinea pigs. For the sake of everyone who lives near the Oak Creek plant, and especially the kids, I hope they will shut down that plant replace it with clean energy. I am reminded of Jesus' instruction to love our neighbor--certainly, it is not loving to pollute a neighbors' water," said Rev. Jonathan Barker, Pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Kenosha.
In addition to the water impacts of our electricity system, Wisconsin transports a lot of oil through the state. As Cheryl Nenn, of the Milwaukee Riverkeeper, said, “In the Milwaukee River Basin, said Canadian Pacific operates a major rail route where combustible crude oil is being transported through major urban areas, crosses our local rivers and creeks at least 36 times and runs parallel to our rivers for miles. These railways have become “virtual pipelines” for hazardous fuels and much of our rail infrastructure is in extremely poor condition, which endangers the health of our water and our communities. A spill of crude oil into the rivers could cause long-lasting, if not permanent, damage to fish populations and other aquatic life, and threaten Lake Michigan, our drinking water source.”
"Water protection all comes down to the common sense goodness of one simple thought - what we have today we want to be there for tomorrow,” said Eric Hansen of, Citizens Acting for Rail Safety – Milwaukee Area. “Wisconsin is a land where water sparkles. Let's keep it that way," he concluded.
Bill Pringle’s family suffered serious health issues until they moved away from the power plant. Through exhaustive efforts, Bill found out that the cause of their illnesses was the power plant. He stated, “The sad truth is that people have to find out the truth about the health impacts from these power plants on their own.”
“All of this points to the importance of shifting away from fossil fuels”, said Bill Davis, Chapter Director of the Sierra Club’s John Muir Chapter. “To protect our water and our health we need to take serious steps to increase solar and wind power, and energy efficiency,” he concluded.
This is the last in a series of white papers released by the Sierra Club-John Muir Chapter. Previous papers have focused on water quantity, water quality issues around Wisconsin, factory farm impacts, and lead contamination.
Here are some of the 'lowlights' from the paper. (Download the fact sheet here)
• Energy production is the single largest use of water in Wisconsin.
• Natural gas transmission and distribution pipelines are a significant source of methane leaks. When methane pollutes water resources, it impacts water chemistry, and bacteria in the water can metabolize methane, creating dangerous byproducts like hydrogen sulfide
• Enbridge’s holding tanks in Superior can hold up to 13 million barrels of oil about two hundred feet from the Nemadji River, which flows into Lake Superior.
• Many of Wisconsin’s oil pipelines are operating beyond their planned lifetime. Fifty-five percent of pipelines in the Great Lakes region were installed before 1970.
• In 2016 a report that showed that Enbridge had 85 spills in Wisconsin during the prior decade. Five were up to 210,000 gallons. During those years Enbridge spills totaled over 3.5 million gallons of crude oil and other liquid industrial products
• Molybdenum contamination in Caledonia has caused concerns about reproductive and developmental problems in animals including fetal mortality and degenerative changes in the brain and nervous system. This contamination is likely linked to local coal ash ponds.
• Crude oil by rail increased from nearly zero in 2010 to just under 1.0 million barrels per day in August 2015