Municipalities and their taxpayers still face the potential for financial liability for a portion of the cleanup costs. Because the river, which contained PCBs, flowed through various wastewater treatment plants, the potential exists that certain municipalities could face litigation as third-party contributors to the pollution. It is a situation that worries communities along the Fox River. The state Department of Natural Resources has urged the municipalities to do whatever they can to facilitate a comprehensive cleanup effort, including the possibility of making landfill space available for the disposal of the contaminated sediment from the river. The DNR has suggested that it would take steps to hold municipalities immune from liability if they assist in the cleanup process.
Cities are in largely in a holding position, however.
Counties, not cities, own and operate area landfills. But city officials realize that the cost of the cleanup would be greatly reduced if a local disposal site was available and the sediment did not have to be shipped to a distant site. As a group, we can try to convince the counties. Landfills are primarily county issues. If Outagamie, Winnebago and Brown counties come to the table to offer landfilling capacity, it certainly is an aid to everybody.