I am in my fifth year advocating for accountability, public awareness and regulation of dangerous PFAS “forever chemicals.” Two candidates for public office in Marinette County would join me in that effort if elected: Ben Murray in the 36th Assembly District, and Jane Benson in the 89th Assembly District. Each has made clean water one of their top issues. They pledge to protect our groundwater, rivers and lakes from these toxic chemicals that have been recklessly discarded into our environment. Murray and Benson support regulation of PFAS in Wisconsin whereas their opponents do not.
Since the discovery of PFAS in private wells from Tyco/JCI contaminated biosolids, State Rep. Jeffrey Mursau has done nothing to help the people living in the Town of Porterfield and north, to Wagner and the Lake Noquebay area. Rep. Mursau has been a “no show” legislator: no action, no legislation, no support. He just occupies a seat in the State Legislature, and doesn’t do anything, which basically describes his 18 years in office. He’s a nice guy, but no help.
In his brief time in office, State Rep. Elijah Behnke has been worse on PFAS than Mursau. He pushed legislation that would have protected corporate polluters from being held accountable for their actions. Behnke introduced Assembly Bill 392 in June of 2021 that would have provided grants for communities to deal with PFAS contamination. However, if a community accepted a grant, it would have been barred from suing the corporation that caused the pollution. There were no co-sponsors in the Assembly for this taxpayers’ rip-off, nevertheless, it still managed to pass in just a few weeks’ time because the lobbyists were all for it. Fortunately, it died in the State Senate because it was too toxic even for them.
In his 2021 Special Election, Elijah Behnke promised to form a working group of citizens, industry and communities in the Marinette and Peshtigo area to solve the PFAS problem. But once in office, he only formed a working relationship with the Madison corporate pollution lobby. He broke every promise he made during his campaign in 2021 to support Clean Water legislation. For that alone, he should not be returned to office for a second term.
Please vote on Nov. 8 for true supporters of clean and safe drinking water: Ben Murray and Jane Benson.
