• Home
  • News
    • Politics / Govt
    • Legislature
    • Crime / Courts
    • Health / Medicine
    • Archives
  • Sports
    • Badgers
    • Packers
      • Titletown Report
    • Brewers
  • Contact Us
    • Reporters
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Support

Wisconsin Radio Network

Wisconsin News and Sports

You are here: Home / Environment / Conservation / Clean Lakes bill signed

Clean Lakes bill signed

April 14, 2009 By WRN Contributor

Lake Mendota, Madison Legislation banning phosphorus in lawn fertilizer gets the governor's signature. State Representative Spencer Black says the Clean Lakes legislation he authored won't totally solve the problems of algae and weed growth in Wisconsin lakes – but it's a start. “In Minnesota, which has had a ban in place for eight years, in some the lakes they've studied, they've seen a measurable improvement in lake quality,” Black says. “It's almost astounding: one pound of excess phosphorus running off into the lakes can create up to 500 pounds of excess weed and algae growth.”

Black is a Democrat from Madison, where weed growth and algae blooms in the city's lakes have long been a serious problem for swimmers and boaters. “It's almost astounding: one pound of excess phosphorus running off into the lakes can create up to 500 pounds of excess weed and algae growth,” Black says. Of course, lawn fertilizer is not the only product containing phosphorus. “We're going to follow up this session with a ban on phosphorus in dishwashing detergent,” says Black, noting that several states already have such bans in place, and the industry is changing the formulation to eliminate phosphorus. Phosphorus is already banned in laundry detergent – a change Black helped bring about while working for the Sierra Club in the 1980s.

AUDIO: Bob Hague reports (:55 MP3)

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: Environment / Conservation



Featured Stories

Bucks lose tight battle with Nets

Packers get rematch with Tampa Bay in NFC Championship

12th ranked Wisconsin sweeps Arizona State

Packers one win away from Super Bowl

No. 2 Wisconsin women’s hockey sweep’s No. 1 Minnesota

TwitterFacebook

Listen Now | More from Titletown ยป

Sports Headlines

Bucks lose tight battle with Nets

Packers get rematch with Tampa Bay in NFC Championship

12th ranked Wisconsin sweeps Arizona State

Packers one win away from Super Bowl

No. 2 Wisconsin women’s hockey sweep’s No. 1 Minnesota

More Sports

Tweets by @WRN

Get our news delivered to your inbox:

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Copyright © 2021 · Learfield News & Ag, LLC