(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s Joint Committee on Finance released $10 million in funding from a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances settlement to the state’s Department of Natural Resources, with Republican members of the committee and Gov. Tony Evers pointing fingers at each other over a delay in the funding.
Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Gillett, said the committee did not receive the request from the DNR until Aug. 20 to use the funds from a June 5 settlement with Tyco Fire Products.
“We streamlined the process to pass this relief plan only nine business days after the DNR’s official request,” Wimberger said.
Tyco was accused of releasing PFAS and polluting the land and water around one of its facilities near Marinette and Peshtigo.
Wimberger said the funding will go to a “plan that helps impacted residents in the Marinette and Peshtigo areas instead of funding bureaucratic priorities in Madison.”
DNR Secretary Karen Hyun called it a “fast bipartisan action to release the funds.”
But Evers’ office claimed that the funding only was released after “pressure” from the governor, saying that Evers requested the funding be released “over a month ago.”
“This is a big step in the right direction, and the DNR will continue to collaborate with local leaders and communities to ensure we get these funds out the door and to the impacted communities to address their most urgent needs in a timely fashion,” Evers said in a statement.
In the settlement, Tyco was required to pay the state $10 million and “assist in remediating PFAS in the impacted zone, monitor water reports throughout the cleanup process, and offer and provide safe drinking water to households in the affected area.”
