Environmental Groups Working To Cut Off Foxconn Water Supply

WISCONSIN — A coalition of environmental groups has banded together in order to stop a massive Lake Michigan water diversion plan that would fuel the Foxconn Technology Group's $10 billion electronics plant, which is in its early stages of development in Racine County.

The coalition's chief concerns are that the 7 million gallons-per-day water diversion plan goes against a 2008 Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact - a legally-binding interstate compact among the eight Great Lakes states that establishes a framework for joint management and protection of the Great Lakes.

The coalition contends that the DNR’s approval of the City of Racine’s application violates the Compact requirement - even though the Foxconn plant would be located in a "straddling community" - that any water diverted out of the Basin must be used solely for “Public Water Supply Purposes.”

The coalition contends that the City’s application is to exclusively supply water to industrial and commercial customers in a newly-designated “electronics and information technology manufacturing zone” in the Village of Mt. Pleasant.

A "straddling community" is a municipality that is at least partially within the Great Lakes basin. There are specific rules that govern a straddling community's Lake Michigan water consumption.

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Read the coalition's petition to the DNR here

According to a Bloomberg News report, the group filed the petition on May 25. If the petition "meets statutory standards," it will be forwarded to an administrative law judge who will either hold a hearing or issue a ruling.

According to the report, if the petition fails, Racine will join Waukesha as the only two municipalities who are able to draw water from Lake Michigan where the municipality is at least partially outside the Great Lakes basin.

The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Riverkeeper, Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy and the River Alliance of Wisconsin have retained legal representation from the Midwest Environmental Advocates and the HS Law firm to challenge the Department of Natural Resource's decision to approve the City of Racine's application to draw 7 million gallons of freshwater per day to the future Foxconn plan which is planned for Mount Pleasant.

The representation includes James Parra and Tressie Kamp of Midwest Environmental Advocates and Jodi Habush Sinykin of HS Law.

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