Chief of EPA sees Fox River Talks with local fishermen By Anna Krejci News-Chronicle Mike Leavitt, administrator of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, took a boat ride on the Fox River in Green Bay on Wednesday with local environmental protection officials and city government representatives to learn about the site that he said will undergo the largest dredging project the federal agency has seen. Leavitt is traveling the Great Lakes region to learn about environmental issues impacting the lake's surrounding communities as a result of President Bush's Great Lakes Executive Order that puts Leavitt and the EPA in charge of coordinating the lakes' water clean up efforts of local and state governments, tribes and nongovernmental organizations. During Wednesday's ride on the Fox River, Leavitt toured brownfields - areas in need of environmental clean up before businesses can reuse the land - talked with city planners and saw parts of the river being tested for depth in preparation for dredging. He is optimistic about the Fox River's cleanup and the participation from riverside corporations responsible for the pollution. Rob Strong, Green Bay's planning director, rode with Leavitt on the river. He said the city is interested in cleaning up the river so it can be used for recreational purposes. He said he told Leavitt the area could benefit from funding to help relocate coal piles. Green Bay residents who were fishing at the time of Leavitt's visit got to meet the chief of the federal agency, who was asking them if they were catching more fish. Green Bay resident Steve Brown said he catches fish but puts them back in the water because he fears contamination. "I can't trust eating them," he said. The money he spends on bait is wasted after he throws fish back in the water, he said. Brown said local and federal governments are not doing enough to clean up the river. Some people can take boats out into the bay to fish, he said, while he is finding it challenging to find riverbanks for fishing. And it is in the river, as opposed to in the bay, where the highest concentrations of contamination are found, said James Hahnenberg, geologist and remedial project manager with the EPA. Based on voluntary water quality reports from states, the EPA reports that 35 percent of lake acres and 24 percent of river miles in the United States are under fish advisories, an increase from last year. While warnings deter people from eating fish from the river, for Leavitt, the fact fish and birds are returning to the Fox River is a sign that the country's waterways are becoming healthier. More waters are being tested and contamination levels in emissions are decreasing, he said. Recently, the Bush administration and EPA have come under scrutiny for emission reduction proposals whose critics say do not reduce emissions fast enough - at a rate slower than what the Clean Air Act calls for - and are too lenient on power plants. Leavitt said the administration and the agency are taking a less confrontational approach to reduce pollution. "Is it better to sue every power company in America and litigate for 10 years, or to give them incentives to do the right thing? Time has demonstrated that people can do more, and they do things faster, if you allow it to be done in a way that makes sense to them," he said. Leavitt outlined the goals that the president wants him and the EPA to meet. "At my first cabinet meeting, the president said this to me, that 'Every time you come I'm gonna ask you four questions. "'I want to know if the air's cleaner, the water more pure and the land better cared for, and are we doing it in a way that will keep America competitive economically,' " he said, outlining the goals the president wants him to meet. Leavitt said the agency expects to see a 70 percent reduction in power plant pollution in the next 15 years. After Leavitt's visit to Green Bay, he toured Manitowoc and Sheboygan, talking with government leaders about water issues affecting those areas.