The WMC Litigation Center, a non-profit law firm affiliated with Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC), filed a lawsuit on behalf of two small-business owners in Jefferson County Circuit Court against the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), according to a recent press release. The lawsuit challenges the DNR’s cleanup mandates under the Spills Law.
The DNR’s mandates require people and businesses to clean up contamination at their properties, regardless of its cause. Under these mandates, landowners are liable for contamination by a previous owner or for pollutants that migrate onto their property through groundwater.
The two small-business owners represented by WMC Litigation Center are Ralph and Mary Ruffolo, who intend to retire and sell their Kenosha bicycle and skateboard shop. The DNR, however, is requiring them to clean up soil and groundwater contamination, likely to exceed $100,000 in cleanup costs. The petroleum contamination likely occurred over 60 years ago, two decades before the Ruffolos purchased the property.
