GLIN==> Menominee River BUI Delisting - Public Comment Opportunity

For immediate release

November 2010

Menominee River Citizens Group Votes to Support Agencies' Action on Area of Concern

Contact: Kendra Axness, 920-438-7581, kendra.axness at ces.uwex.edu<mailto:becky.sapper at ces.uwex.edu>

Marinette, Wis.-The Lower Menominee River Citizens Advisory Committee voted at its Tuesday, November 3 meeting to endorse a proposal by the state natural resource agencies of Michigan and Wisconsin to remove restrictions on swimming and other recreational activities in the waters of the Lower Menominee River that may involve total or partial body contact with the water.

The restrictions were identified in the late 1980s as part of the Great Lakes Areas of Concern program (also known as Remedial Action Plans) due to municipal combined sewer overflows during severe rainstorms. Since then, extensive upgrades to wastewater treatment systems in Marinette, Wis., and Menominee, Mich., have significantly reduced or eliminated sewer overflows resulting in cleaner river water.

Citizens Advisory Committee members supported the proposal to remove the restrictions because of improvements they have noted in the river since the wastewater treatment system upgrades. Committee Co-Chair Steve Zander noted that "It used to be pretty obvious that an overflow had occurred based on what we observed in the water. We just don't see the discharge of raw sewage anymore."

The proposal to remove the restrictions is described in a document that is open for public comment through December 2, 2010. Copies of the document can be obtained by contacting Kendra Axness, UW-Extension Basin Educator at 920-438-7581, or by e-mail at kendra.axness at ces.uwex.edu<mailto:kendra.axness at ces.uwex.edu>. The document is also available on the UW-Extension Upper Green Bay Basin web site: http://basineducation.uwex.edu/uppergb/.

The Lower Menominee River Citizens Advisory Committee is a group that meets monthly to advise government agencies on efforts related to the Area of Concern. Meetings are usually held on Wednesday evenings at UW-Marinette's Geography/Geology classroom, University YMCA/Max E. Peterson Field House, at the corner of University Drive and Shore Drive. The next meeting will be held in this location at 6:30 p.m. on December 8, 2010, and the public is welcome.


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