Sierra Club 1/2p H2O pollution cleanup ad in Milw Journal today!

[rodmant]

Great news! There is a 1/2 page Sierra Club ad on the back page of the front section of the Milwaukee Journal *today*.

o see press release below for purpose of ad
o pls attend Sierra Club press conf today at 12:30PM- Bradford Beach
o our home page and thumbnail of ad

-Tom Rodman
----------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Rosemary Wehnes at 414-453-3127

Environmentalists challenge Milwaukee area residents, industries, WE
Energies, MMSD, United Water and others to help "Clean up the waters,"
so we can all enjoy a day at the beach.

Milwaukee- The number of beach closures and advisories was high again
last year, reaching near record levels for the past decade, according to
the 13th annual beach water quality report from NRDC (Natural Resources
Defense Council).

"Too much of the water at too many beaches is still too polluted with
sewage and runoff," said Rosemary Wehnes, Sierra Club conservation
organizer. "That means many Wisconsin families have their beach
vacations ruined when they can't go in the water. Worse yet, standards
for advisories and for closing the beaches leave parents confused about
when it's unsafe for their children to swim."

Today Sierra Club is running an ad designed by Kohnke Hanneken
Advertising in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to call attention to the
ongoing pollution of our beaches.

"This effort started for us this past summer when one of my art
directors visited an area beach with his family and found it closed due
to high bacteria levels," said Dave Hanneken, Partner at Kohnke Hanneken
Advertising in Milwaukee.

"When I was younger we used to have to wait 30 minutes before we could
go into the water. Our kids shouldn't have to wait 30 days."

"This is such a personal project for us. If this ad can help even the
slightest way by making people aware of the problems and motivate them
to get involved, then hopefully then change can happen."

This year, "Testing the Waters: A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation
Beaches" cites more than 12,000 closures and advisories caused by
pollution at ocean, bay, Great Lakes, and other freshwater beaches
across the country. Despite the fact California and East Coast droughts
in 2002 reduced pollution-causing runoff, the totals were the second
highest in 13 years.

In Milwaukee County the number of beach closings surged from 75 days in
2001 to 171 days in 2002. We continue to have problems with bacterial
levels. In 2002 Bradford Beach test results showed 45 days exceeding a
count of 235 colonies of E. coli per 100 ml of sample (EPA's recommended
standard for a single sample). In 2003, test results at Bradford Beach
have exceeded the 235 standard 46 days through Sept 12th.* These levels
of bacteria have occurred even with a summer of lower than normal
rainfall in Milwaukee County.

According to NRDC, the general trend of more closures and advisories is
due in part to better beach water monitoring. Unfortunately, better
monitoring has found that pollution from sewage spills and urban,
suburban and agricultural runoff is contaminating our beaches with
disease-causing bacteria and other pathogens. High bacteria levels,
indicating the presence of human or animal waste, prompted 87 percent of
the closures and advisories in 2002.

Similarly disturbing, local authorities were unable to attribute a
source for the beach water contamination violating health or safety
standards for 62 percent of closings and advisories last year (7,505 of
12,184)--the highest rate of "unknown sources" since NRDC first issued
the report in 1991.

"Sierra Club is urging people to get involved in cleaning up the beaches
by helping to start a monitoring or adopt a beach program, installing a
water garden or rain barrel, cleaning up after their pets, and with
other initiatives found on the water page of their website at
_______________.

"We as a community need to protect beachgoers not only by monitoring and
closing our beaches when the water is not safe, but also by reducing the
sources of pollution," said Cheri Briscoe, Chair of the Milwaukee area
Sierra Club.

"What's sad is that there's so much indifference out there. People have
become almost numb to the fact that our waterways are sick. Hopefully an
ad like this will help them to snap out of it, said Dave Hanneken."

Bush Administration Rolling Back Beach Pollution Protections

NRDC has seen progress over the last 13 years. At least 12 states have
initiated or expanded monitoring programs since NRDC began its annual
report, and over the next two years, states and localities will begin
implementing federally funded programs that are currently under
development under the 2000 BEACH Act, which encourages states to
establish monitoring and public notification programs for beachwater
quality. But now our beach water is facing another threat: the Bush
administration.

From the first day it took office, the Bush administration has been
rolling back programs that keep U.S. beach water clean and safe for
swimming, charges NRDC. And now the administration is pursuing new
policies that would leave many of the nation's waterways completely
unprotected, reduce treatment requirements for sewage, allow
contaminated storm water from new development to pollute rivers, and
delay and derail state efforts to clean up polluted waterways.

For example, for more than two years, the Bush administration has held
up rules that would minimize raw sewage discharges and require sewer
system operators to detect sewer overflows before they reach the beach.
Instead of issuing a rule that would protect beachgoers, the Bush
administration is promoting a policy that would allow sewer operators to
discharge inadequately treated sewage into waterways whenever it rains.

The Sierra Club is the nation's oldest and one of the most effective
environmental groups dedicated to protecting our environment, for our
families and for our future. For more information, call 414-453-3127 or
visit http://www.sierraclub.org/cleanwater/sc_cleanwater_fs.pdf.

NRDC is a national, non-profit organization of scientists, lawyers and
environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the
environment. More information about NRDC is available through its Web
site: www.nrdc.org <http://www.nrdc.org/>.

Beach information available at:
http://infotrek.er.usgs.gov/servlet/page?_pageid=1993,2002&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30

Rosemary Wehnes
Sierra Club
Conservation Program Coordinator
414-453-3127


our home page and thumbnail of ad