MADISON, Wis. (Legal Newsline) -- Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced Thursday a $40,000 judgment against a Dodge County-based liquid waste storage facility that allegedly violated state water pollution and permit laws.
United Liquid Waste Recycling Incorporated must pay $40,000 in forfeitures, surcharges, attorney fees and court costs for allegedly violating pollution laws and Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit laws at its Clyman-based liquid industrial and municipal waste storage and processing facility.
On Dec. 3, 2010, ULWR allegedly allowed waste material to be released into a nearby grassy waterway when its hose broke while land applying waste.
On July 31, 2011, ULWR's storage tank ruptured, allegedly letting at least 1,000 gallons of stored industrial waste flow through a creek and into a wetland.
The Wisconsin Department of Resources alleged that ULWR failed to take necessary actions to restore the environment and minimize the harmful effects of the two discharges. ULWR also allegedly failed to report both incidents orally to the DNR within 24 hours and failed to report the 2011 incident in writing within five days.
Unauthorized discharges to surface water can result in short- and long-term changes to the water, including increased fish and invertebrate mortality, a drop in dissolved oxygen, habitat alteration and degraded water quality, Van Hollen said.
Timely reporting of unauthorized discharges lets DNR staff contain the spill and determine the best course of action regarding environmental and public health impacts.
The attorney general said following the discharges, ULWR made significant changes to its facility and systems to reduce the risk of future unauthorized discharges and to make sure discharges are reported in a timely fashion to the DNR.