EPA says 10 years before state's largest cities get clean air

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Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources officials say it might be another decade before Wisconsin’s biggest metro areas can get clean air again.

Veteran pollution expert Larry Bruss said the Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, and Janesville areas would not comply with new federal soot limits until at least four years after a 2014 deadline to comply.

Meanwhile, the Sierra Club accuses Gov. Jim Doyle of ignoring that information when he asked the federal EPA in December to declare Wisconsin in compliance.

Bruss, a 30-year veteran of the DNR, said he had misgivings that he did not inform the Legislature and the public about its findings until now.

Had the information gotten to the Capitol earlier, there would have been public hearings.

The governors of Illinois, Michigan, and Indiana all admitted their states won’t meet the new soot limits by 2014. They’ve asked the EPA to designate their most polluted counties as non-attainment areas and they’ll face the risk of more regulations and clean-up costs.

Wisconsin’s situation came up this week, when Doyle called on utilities to limit their mercury emissions.

Tags: wisconsin_news, clean_air, epa, sierra_club