Bob CollinsSome rural western Wisconsin communities may be involved in another brewing battle at the Wisconsin Legislature.
An Osceola Republican, Rep. Erik Severson, has sponsored a bill to roll back a new law that requires municipal governments to disinfect drinking water.
“A lot of it is expense,” he told the Cap Times. “When people in an area are not complaining about the drinking water, the water is good. The taxpayers there are saying ‘Hey, we can’t afford to pay for this.'”
Severson claims Balsam Lake in northwest Wisconsin, would have to spend more money to comply with the rule than its entire city budget, although the village trustee couldn’t confirm that. The city’s three wells have high levels of manganese.
