Wisconsin judge asked to resume costly cleanup of Fox River

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Federal prosecutors will ask a judge Thursday to restart the cleanup of contaminated sediment from the Fox River in Brown County, a project that could cost more than $1 billion.

Earlier this week, Judge William Griesbach removed Appleton Papers as a defendant in the ongoing litigation over who should pay for the cost of cleaning PCBs from the lower Fox in Brown County. The company, in partnership with NRC, has already spent $300 million to rid the river of contaminated sediment created years ago when papermaking waste chemicals were discharged into the Fox.

The government has targeted about a dozen paper companies for polluting the river. The Green Bay Press-Gazette says an arbitration agreement established in New York still holds Appleton Papers indirectly responsible for the cleanup.