APPLETON , WI -- Appleton's City Council unanimously approving a settlement stemming from PCB cleanup efforts on the Fox River.
It's also bringing some closure to a long battle.
The cost for the city: more than $800,000.
After years of expensive litigation--in some cases, paid for by taxpayers--Appleton leaders are assuring people tonight that city insurers will cover this cost.
"This is good. It's good for the city. It's good for the river," says Hanna. "It's a long time coming."
"I mean, any time we're settling, there's some challenges that come with it," explains Alderman Kyle Lobner before the hearing, "but this is an issue that's been going on for a very long time, and I think we're all happy to have this opportunity to put it to bed."
The 2008 lawsuit, filed by Appvion and NCR Corporation, cites law that says municipalities can also be held responsible for PCB contamination. Polychlorinated biphenyls were once used in the paper making process along the Fox River.
Menasha Corporation, the Neenah-Menasha Sewerage Commission, U.S. Parer Mills Corporation, and Wisconsin Tissue Mills were also sued.
Cleanup costs for the 39 miles of the river in question, including the Bay of Green Bay, are estimated at more than $1 billion.
City leaders are also hopeful that accepting this settlement will help avoid any possible future litigation regarding these cleanup efforts.
"The argument over whose fault was it, and who's going to pay for it," says Hanna, "hopefully, this settles that issue."
The cleanup is still underway. Experts estimate it will go into 2018.
Tonight's decision still has to be approved by the city's insurers. Mayor Hanna is hopeful that can come soon.
