Milwaukee water quality, EPA funds sewer relocation project

MILWAUKEE - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has funded a multimillion-dollar project to improve Milwaukee's water quality.

Decades of pollution have left the Milwaukee estuary, where three major rivers flow into Lake Michigan, is an "area of concern."  

"One of the legacy contaminated sites on the Great Lakes," said Debra Shore, EPA Region 5 administrator.

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While federal, state and local officials have already agreed to spend $450 million dollars to dredge those contaminants, crews must replace and relocate an existing sewer line in that area. That work will cost roughly $17 million, according to the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District.

"The dredged material management facility is going to be built right here, and we want to make sure we still have that outfall functional once it’s built," said Kevin Shafer, MMSD's executive director.

Milwaukee estuary "area of concern" (EPA)

Thanks to federal funding, the work is already started. 

"When we make investments in addressing water pollution, as we are with this $17 million, we are really investing in the future of the people that live here in this region," said Radhika Fox, EPA administrator for water.

Not only will the project create room for the new facility, the EPA said it will also prevent sewer backups.

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"All these pieces fit together, it’s like a puzzle," said Shafer.

And each piece is working toward one common goal, said Milwaukee Riverkeeper's Jennifer Bolger Breceda: "So people can swim, and paddle, and eat the fish without worry – and that our waterways and our water quality are improved for the next generation."

Construction on the sewer project is expected to be completed by 2024.