zonelistener
ONE love, blood, life
Wisconsin city to spend $2 million to catch condoms
Associated Press
MILWAUKEE -- Sewerage commissioners will spend $2 million to prevent condoms from traveling through the Jones Island Wastewater Treatment Plant into Lake Michigan.
The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District Commission had rejected a staff recommendation three weeks ago to authorize the system.
But commissioners approved on Monday a $163,873 contract to design the system. It will cost an estimated $96,000 a year in maintenance and operation after being built.
The $2 million project will install large mesh bags on tanks at the last stage of the sewage treatment process to catch the condoms.
In June, a fisherman said he saw hundreds of spent condoms in the harbor, but sewerage district workers found only 50 or 60 condoms.
It was not clear whether the district was responsible for the June incident, sewerage commissioner Jeannette Bell said. However, some condoms were slipping through the Jones Island plant, so the upgrade became necessary, she said.
An internal review found that an average of 32 condoms a day slipped through the treatment plant.
Sewage Commission Chairman Dennis Grzezinski said it was likely condoms would still be found in the lake after the equipment was installed, because they could come from area streams or other sources.
The project approval came after Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager told the district it faced possible prosecution over the condoms reportedly found in Lake Michigan in June.
The Department of Natural Resources had not decided Monday whether to refer the condom matter for possible prosecution, said Charles Burney, a DNR official who oversees the sewerage district.
Associated Press
MILWAUKEE -- Sewerage commissioners will spend $2 million to prevent condoms from traveling through the Jones Island Wastewater Treatment Plant into Lake Michigan.
The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District Commission had rejected a staff recommendation three weeks ago to authorize the system.
But commissioners approved on Monday a $163,873 contract to design the system. It will cost an estimated $96,000 a year in maintenance and operation after being built.
The $2 million project will install large mesh bags on tanks at the last stage of the sewage treatment process to catch the condoms.
In June, a fisherman said he saw hundreds of spent condoms in the harbor, but sewerage district workers found only 50 or 60 condoms.
It was not clear whether the district was responsible for the June incident, sewerage commissioner Jeannette Bell said. However, some condoms were slipping through the Jones Island plant, so the upgrade became necessary, she said.
An internal review found that an average of 32 condoms a day slipped through the treatment plant.
Sewage Commission Chairman Dennis Grzezinski said it was likely condoms would still be found in the lake after the equipment was installed, because they could come from area streams or other sources.
The project approval came after Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager told the district it faced possible prosecution over the condoms reportedly found in Lake Michigan in June.
The Department of Natural Resources had not decided Monday whether to refer the condom matter for possible prosecution, said Charles Burney, a DNR official who oversees the sewerage district.
