MADISON, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s chancellor said that he’s irritated that a university-operated power plant has been allowing coal runoff to pollute one of the city’s lakes.
However, John Wiley rejects calls from the Sierra Club and other environmentalists to close the 50-year-old plant and said that the university instead is exploring ways to make the coal burn cleaner.
Wiley said that he has ordered officials in charge of the Charter Street plant to better contain a coal pile that is releasing dust into the neighborhood. When it rains or snows the coal runoff enters storm sewers that drain into Monona Bay, a popular fishing and recreation spot.