Evers considering lawsuit against Republicans for refusing to release PFAS funding

MADISON – Gov. Tony Evers isn't ruling out filing a lawsuit to force Republicans to release funding meant to help communities across the state address "forever chemical" contaminations.

Evers appeared alongside Democratic members of the Joint Finance Committee Tuesday morning after the Republican majority failed to show up. Evers last week called the meeting of the budget committee to release funding to address both PFAS and the lack of medical resources in the northeastern portion of the state.

"The options are kicking some people out of their positions next November, or finding a judge someplace that says we need to move forward," he said.

The governor accused the Joint Finance Committee of acting as a fourth branch of power within the state and not as just a part of the Legislature.

"It seems ridiculous that we need to go to the court for relief," Evers said. "You have an obligation to release (the funding), and it seems we are wasting time and energy of the people of Wisconsin."

No Republican members of Joint Finance attended the meeting Tuesday morning, leaving too few in attendance to convene.

Evers called for the meeting of the committee last week, after he vetoed a bill aimed at outlining how the Department of Natural Resources could spend the $125 million PFAS "trust fund" that was set aside last year during the budget process. The governor then called for the Joint Finance Committee to instead come in for a special meeting, to release the funding and allow the agency to spend the fund without the strict guidelines contained in the vetoed legislation.

If Evers had signed the bill, it would have created grant programs aimed at providing aid to communities with contamination, in addition to limiting the actions that the DNR could take to address contamination or hold polluters accountable.

It would have also commissioned studies, required a reduction in costs for testing, expanded a well compensation grant program, and established an innocent buyer program that would help property owners who unknowingly purchase land contaminated with PFAS.

But environmental groups, the Evers administration and residents in impacted communities pushed back on the Republican-authored bill, saying that it would have harmed the DNR's ability to enforce cleanup of PFAS and that it would have allowed businesses to get away with contamination.

The authors argued that the complaints were unfounded.

Eric Wimberger, R-Green Bay, who is a member of the committee, fired back in a press release, accusing Evers and Democrats for wanting to make the public pay for pollution.

“While PFAS-affected families suffer, Democrats would rather stage publicity stunts than actually listen to the needs of impacted communities. The same Democrats calling for these funds to be released voted against including them in the budget," he said. "If Democrats on the budget committee are actually serious about helping PFAS victims get clean water, I look forward to their vote to override the Governor’s veto.”

Evers called attention to the Town of Campbell, the French Island community that neighbors La Crosse, and the struggles its residents have been facing for years. Nearly all private wells on the island are contaminated with PFAS and the community has relied on bottled water as they wait for a solution to be implemented.

"Think about the people of French Island, they've been messing with this for I'd say half a decade and they're continuing to drink Culligan water," he said. "It's wrong. It's wrong."

Evers said the lack of funding might make it even harder for communities to reach new standards issued by the Environmental Protection Agency last week, which sets the limit for two of the most common PFAS compounds at just 4 parts per trillion, well below the current Wisconsin standards.

"Municipalities are already struggling with this issue," he said. "People are drinking water they have to buy at the grocery store. And that puts immense pressure on local folks."

PFAS will likely take billions of dollars to address in Wisconsin. In Wausau, for example, the city is spending $17 million to install a treatment system to filter the elevated levels of PFAS in all of its wells.

"One of the most important parts of our work is our work with health and safety and we're sitting here with no Republicans," Evers said. "Taking the time to do the right thing. It sucks."

Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, was one of three Democratic members of the committee who appeared for the meeting. She said the lack of interest in getting money out to PFAS-impacted communities is just the latest in the line of things Republicans want to take credit for, "without actually solving the problem."

"This has been long-standing, many sessions in the making with PFAS," she said. "This is a consistent pattern. There was no need to put this money in a lockbox."

What are PFAS?

PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a family of man-made chemicals used for their water- and stain-resistant qualities in products like clothing and carpet, nonstick cookware, packaging and firefighting foam.

The family includes 5,000 compounds, which are persistent, remaining both in the environment and human body over time.  The chemicals have been linked to types of kidney and testicular cancers, lower birth weights, harm to immune and reproductive systems, altered hormone regulation and altered thyroid hormones.

Laura Schulte can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter at @SchulteLaura. 

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Tony Evers considering suing Republicans over release of PFAS funding