On the Road in Door County-
Between the Beauty and the Trouble
By Jane Elder
Bill Davis and I had back-to-back public talks in lovely Door County Wisconsin last week—his, on water law and policy and implications for Wisconsin waters hosted by the Door County Environmental Council, and mine, on the book (Wilderness, Water & Rust) hosted by The Ridges Sanctuary.
In late June, the county is bustling with summer tourists intent on summer fun—from swimming and boating to just enjoying the expansive views across the bay or Lake Michigan. On a brief visit, we managed to fit in a hot-fudge sundae at Wilson's, Swedish pancakes at Al Johnson’s, and a visit to the always wonderful Edgewood Orchard gallery—Door County is such a special place.
At both events, local concerns about environmental impacts on the bay of Green Bay and Lake Michigan were part of lively Q&A sessions. It was abundantly clear that people who are paying attention can see the changes in water quality, and the trends aren’t good.
At the first event, people raised concerns about the remaining presence of legacy pollutants (like PCBs) in bay waters, as well as the new threats from PFAS. A faint view of the far shore across the bay served as a reminder that one of the largest PFAS contamination sites in the Great Lakes was just over there, with clean-up efforts (including the contaminated groundwater) still underway, while the legislature holds approved clean-up funds hostage to their “no liability for responsible parties” agenda.
The conversation shifted when a woman pulled out her cell phone and showed photos of her once-lovely beach, now covered in a thick dark mat of rotting algae goo. Another talked about how the algae (Cladophora) had ruined her regular swims in the bay. Others spoke about the ongoing loadings of phosphorus into the bay from the upstream agricultural operations, and wells contaminated from E. coli—linked to the manure-spreading practices from CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations) also known as factory farms in Kewaunee and Door Counties.
Fifty-two years after the United States passed its first modern Clean Water Act, we still don’t regulate agricultural water pollution like all other significant sources. Voluntary practices, while laudable, haven’t really worked, as we can see from the recurring dead zones and now early-season blooms and die-offs of green algae, and the occasional appearance of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) which can release toxins into water.
On our second morning we hiked along a Lake Michigan shoreline trail in Newport State Park. We’d made the false assumption that the problems plaguing the bay wouldn’t be present on the lake side of the peninsula. At a shallow inlet, the first thing that got our attention was the stench, and there it was: gloppy dark clumps of rotting algae coating what should have been a sandy shoreline. Our hearts sank. With the recent heavy rains, the pollution plumes had clearly been flushed out beyond the bay.