APPLETON, WIS. — The important environmental and cultural history of the Fox River and the latest efforts to restore its environmental integrity will be examined in a four-part Lawrence University environmental studies lecture series.
Jeff Mazanec, a senior engineer in the Appleton office of Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc., opens the series Thursday, Sept. 28 with the address “Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance — Working Together to Make a Difference.” The presentation, at 4:45 p.m. in Science Hall, Room 102 on the Lawrence campus, is free and open to the public.
In his slide-illustrated address, Mazanec will outline the mission and objectives of the FWWA, focusing on four main objectives: education, sound science, partnering and special places. He also will discuss the future direction of environmental management in Wisconsin.
Mazanec joined the FWWA board of directors in 2000 and has served as its president since 2005. A native of Manitowoc, he holds a degree in civil engineering and has been involved in a variety of public sector works projects, most notably overseeing the design and reconstruction of Appleton’s downtown College Avenue in 2002. His more recent management projects include large river crossing water mains, wastewater collection system flow analysis and modeling and the development of computer-based or web applications for stormwater management.
First formed in 1992 as North East Wisconsin Waters for Tomorrow, the Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance is an independent, non-profit organization that identifies issues and advocates effective policies and actions to protect, restore and sustain the water resources of Wisconsin’s Fox-Wolf River Basin.
The Fox River is a central feature of the Fox-Wolf Watershed, which encompasses a large portion of Wisconsin, including 12 percent of state land, 16 percent of Wisconsin’s population and eight percent of Wisconsin stream miles.
The Lower Fox River is among the most highly industrialized rivers in the world. Due to PCB-laden sediment deposits, the Lower Fox River has beome the focus of a $400 million government-ordered cleanup, the largest river cleanup ever attempted in North America. According to the 2006 State of the Fox-Wolf Watershed Report, from 1957-71, approximately 125 tons of PCBs were discharged into the river by local paper mills that were recycling carbonless copy paper. While much of that pollutant has since washed into Green Bay and Lake Michigan, about one-third of the PCBs remain attached to sediments in the river.
Other talks scheduled in the series include:
• Oct. 19 — “Fox River PCB Cleanup,” Jim Hahnenberg, remedial project manager, Fox River cleanup, U.S. EPA Region 5, 4:45 p.m., Science Hall 102.
• November 2 — “The Lower Fox River Watershed Monitoring Project,” Kevin Fermanich, associate professor of natural and applied sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, 4:45 p.m., Science Hall 102.
• November 9 — “TOXIC BODIES: An Environmental History of Endocrine Disruptors,”Nancy Langston, associate professor of forest ecology and management at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, 4:45 p.m., Science Hall 102.
The environmental lecture series is sponsored by the Spoerl Lectureship in Science in Society. Established in 1999 by Milwaukee-Downer College graduate Barbara Gray Spoerl and her husband, Edward, the lectureship promotes interest and discussion on the role of science and technology in societies worldwide.
