A public meeting this week addressing phosphorous runoff into the waters of Green Bay is bringing together people from agriculture, business and public utilities.
Phosphorous runoff causes toxic algae blooms, which harm fish and can tangle up outboard boat motors.
One of the speakers at the event will be Tom Sigmund, the executive director of NEW Water, the Green Bay water utility. He said the state has implemented new phosphorous standards.
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“Our discharge would be limited to one milligram per liter of phosphorus, which is about a two-thirds reduction from where we’re at today. And that would be quite expensive,” said Sigmund.
He said that most phosphorous in Green Bay comes from industry, agriculture and some stormwater runoff.
“We’re in the process of identifying baseline phosphorous in the soil. We got that work done and we’re working this year to identify what practices might need to be put on this agricultural land,” said Sigmund.
He said municipalities must be in compliance by 2019.
The summit will be on Wednesday at the Neville Public Museum in Green Bay, and is open to the public.
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