Residents fear soil, standards are going down the drain at construction sites

Despite the city of Madison?s promises to toughen enforcement of construction site erosion laws, few non-compliance notices or fines have been issued this year or last, and residents report numerous sites where brown plumes of silt have sluiced into the city?s lakes during rainfalls. While the city has stepped up inspections, those reports show few problems or violations. Erosion problems exist on the UW-Madison campus where, in several locations, streets often are stained with dirt from construction jobs and where the state Department of Natural Resources, responsible for inspection and enforcement of erosion rules for campus building projects, is struggling with oversight responsibilities because of its thin inspection staff.