GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Clearing the Fox River of harmful chemicals known as PCBs wasn’t an easy process. The project was finally completed in 2020. To see it finally come to fruition was a special moment for David Allen.
“We’re taking this time to celebrate Green Bay’s past, present and future as it relates to that cleanup,” Allen said.
Allen co-wrote a book titled, “Paper Valley: The Fight for the Fox River Cleanup.” It commemorates the history of pollution in the river. It also looks at the challenges that stood in the way of the one billion dollar project clean-up, and the political bickering surrounding it.
“The governmental agencies were fighting amongst themselves,” Allen said. “It took 10 years for the agencies to come a consensus about doing that together and actually using superfund- and I was kind of in that middle of that.”
Allen got involved as a scientist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service. The book’s other author, Susan Campbell, had a much different experience.
“I was a reporter at the Green Bay Press Gazette and Fox River cleanup arose as a key issue the public wanted,” Campbell said. “So they resurrected an environmental beat at the paper that had been latent for a period of time. In 1995 I started covering the cleanup.”
Eventually, the state of Wisconsin agreed to the project. Both authors said it’s a success story, and an example of what can happen when people put pressure on government officials.
“It’s worth going through those difficult first steps- going through the controversy, going through the litigation,” Allen said. “If you do that, they can clean up a site even as big as the Fox River. All the other things which look too big, they’re not too big.”
On Wednesday, the authors moderated a panel discussion with local leaders to discuss how to continue making progress. Because for many, the work continues.
“Major intractable environmental issues: They seem unsolvable, and there was a time back in the 90s and in the 80s before that, this Fox River PCB problem seemed bigger than life, too big to tackle,” Campbell said. “I think it’s cause for hope.”
The United States EPA finally certified the project as being complete last October. Long-term testing has begun to measure PCBs. The entire river and bay will be tested every five years until cleanup goals are achieved.
