Wisconsin
Wisconsin lawmakers try again with bill to reduce road salt pollution
Tips on how to reduce how much salt you use to de-ice your sidewalk in winter
Using salt to de-ice roads and sidewalks can have a negative impact on Wisconsin’s rivers and lakes. You can help reduce salt usage by following these tips.
Lou Saldivar, Wochit
Wisconsin lawmakers are reintroducing a bill that would shield road salt applicators from slip-and-fall lawsuits if they are trained on salting practices that also safeguard water quality.
Gov. Tony Evers vetoed the bill in 2024 after Democrats pulled their support for it, saying the liability shield it created was too broad. Republican Sen. André Jacque of De Pere, who authored the legislation, said the risk that road salt poses to Wisconsin’s fresh water is too serious not to try again.
Salt is a cheap and easy way to melt ice. But in excess, it gets swept into rivers, streams and lakes – and also pollutes drinking water. Chloride, one component of road salt, harms aquatic life and corrodes pipes. Sodium, the other component, has become so prevalent in Wisconsin’s public wells that more than one-third of the wells tested for sodium in the last decade were above the recommended limit for people on low-salt diets.
Sodium and chloride in water can come from a variety of sources, including water softener salt. In colder states, road salt is typically a dominant source.
One coffee mug’s worth of salt is enough to de-ice 10 sidewalk squares. But many people lay down much more with good intentions of preventing others from slipping. On private properties, where as much as half of salting occurs, road salt applicators say they lay down more salt than is necessary because they fear they or the property owner will get sued.
“Once you get salt in [water], it doesn’t really leave easily,” Jacque said. “Unless we start to do things a little bit differently, it’s going to continue to move in that direction.”
Bill would grant legal immunity to commercial salt applicators
Like the earlier version, the bill would require the state’s Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to create a program to train commercial salt applicators in snow and ice removal methods that would also protect water quality.
Sweeping up excess salt, calibrating equipment so it doesn’t dump large piles of salt and brining – where salt is mixed with water before being applied to roads – are all methods that can help applicators use less salt, according to Allison Madison, program manager for the salt pollution awareness coalition Wisconsin Salt Wise.
Commercial applicators who voluntarily complete the training, pass an exam and become registered with the department would not be held liable for damages caused by snow and ice provided they used the de-icing methods they were trained on. That protection also applies to the owner of the property that contracted with the applicator.
Many states have programs that help road salt applicators learn safer salting practices. But only one, New Hampshire, includes the limited liability aspect. That law passed in 2013.
Liability shield remains a sticking point for trial lawyers
Wisconsin Democrats who supported the original bill, including Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein of Middleton and Sen. Mark Spreitzer of Beloit, backed away after an amendment that strengthened its liability shields. Hesselbein’s office said at the time that the change made the legislation “less about salt reduction and the environment and instead [enacted] more unnecessary liability shields.”
The Wisconsin Association for Justice, an association of trial lawyers, was the only organization to register against the bill and spent nearly 290 hours lobbying on the matter between 2023 and 2024, state lobbying records show.
In a Feb. 4 memo seeking cosponsorship of the reintroduced bill, Jacque and Assembly cosponsor Rep. Elijah Behnke, R-Crivitz, said it incorporates changes “following negotiations with the Wisconsin Association of Justice.”
The new version of the bill requires that salt applicators show proof that they’ve completed the training and are currently registered in the program to claim immunity from liability, Jacque said. It’s meant to assuage trial lawyers’ concerns that anyone could falsely claim they’d completed the training and be shielded from liability.
However, in a Feb. 5 letter, Jim Rogers, government affairs director for the Wisconsin Association for Justice, said his organization has not spoken to Jacque or his staff in nearly a year.
“WAJ does not support this bill nor were we given the opportunity to evaluate its language before it was circulated with the false claims about our position,” Rogers wrote.
The bill’s path forward
Spreitzer declined to comment and Hesselbein’s office did not respond to a request for comment on whether they would support the reintroduced bill.
Madison of Wisconsin Salt Wise said she was surprised the bill was being introduced now.
“I’m always happy to see this issue be discussed,” she said, but added that its path forward seems challenging.
Her organization is still making headway. Last year, Wisconsin Salt Wise trained more than 900 people from municipalities and commercial snow and ice removal companies on safe salting methods, according to its annual report.
Madeline Heim covers health and the environment for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at 920-996-7266 or mheim@gannett.com.
Residents can attend the July 16 meeting in Sheboygan or submit written comments by email to NOAA.
Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary has 36 shipwrecks
Discover the history, shipwrecks and impact of the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary, established to protect maritime heritage in Lake Michigan. This video was created by the Wochit AI tool.
Wochit
SHEBOYGAN – Residents can attend or comment on an upcoming meeting of the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council scheduled for July 16 in Sheboygan.
The gathering will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Sheboygan County Museum, 3110 Erie Ave., according to a community announcement. Members of the public are invited to attend and observe discussions.
The agenda includes routine council business, updates from working groups, community reports and briefings from NOAA staff on sanctuary programs, research and upcoming events.
Public can provide comments during meeting
A public comment period is planned for about 7:50 p.m., giving attendees a chance to share feedback directly with council members.
Those unable to attend may submit written comments by email to jean.prevo@noaa.gov, according to the announcement.
Council shares updates on sanctuary programs
NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries will provide updates tied to the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary, including research initiatives and community engagement efforts.
More information about the council and its activities is available online at sanctuaries.noaa.gov.
This story was created by reporter Nida Tazeen, NTazeen@usatodayco.com , with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.
Wisconsin
A Wisconsin family is suing Target after their 10-month-old died from swallowing a water bead
A Wisconsin family lost their ten-month-old daughter after she swallowed a water bead. They blame Target and the water bead manufacturer for her death.
This week, Taylor and Tyler Bethard filed a lawsuit against Target in Hennepin County, claiming that the company failed to warn them and other customers about the dangers of a water beads product that used to be sold exclusively at Target.
Water beads are marketed as toys that come with sensory kits or craft sets, but data shows the products are prone to injuring young children. The polymer material is extremely absorbent, allowing water beads – which are often colorful – to expand around 100 times their original size when they interact with water or liquid. This presents a hazard for kids; the United States Product Safety Commission states that between 2017 and 2022, there were 6,300 water bead-related ingestion injuries that required treatment from emergency departments across the country.
In 2023, a 10-month-old girl died. Her name is Esther “Jo” Bethard. According to court filings, Taylor Bethard found her daughter unresponsive in her crib on the morning of July 7, 2023, after she had suffered symptoms of a stomach illness overnight. Medical examiners told the family that her death was caused by swallowing a single water bead.
The Bethards had purchased a Chuckle and Roar water bead set in the spring of 2022 for Esther Jo’s older siblings, never intending for the infant to interact with the water beads.
Target and the Chuckle and Roar manufacturer, Buffalo Games LLC, mutually agreed to pull the product from the shelves in November of 2022. Court records show an email exchange between Buffalo Games and a product safety employee at Target where the manufacturer noted that while their water beads had met safety standards at the time, they wanted to “avoid any future unintended misuse of the product.”
That conversation was prompted after Buffalo Games was informed that an infant required surgery after ingesting a water bead from the Ultimate Water Beads kit. Target agreed to end sales, indicating that this would be classified as a “safety removal.”
The Bethard’s lawsuit alleges that Target clearly knew how dangerous these water beads could be, but failed to warn them or other customers. Target stopped selling the product about eight months before Esther Jo died. Daniel Mann, a personal injury attorney representing the Bethards in this case, said that Esther Jo would still be alive if Target had acted.
“With all this information Target didn’t do anything to reach out to the family or other consumers to let them know about this problem,” Mann said, “I think 10/10 people would say Target had a responsibility to do more than what they did, which was nothing.”
A spokesperson for Target said that they would not comment on ongoing litigation, but the company had already responded to an identical complaint filed by the Bethards in the State of New York. In 2025, the Bethards sued both Target and Buffalo Games in Erie County, N.Y., because that was where the manufacturer was based. In response to the lawsuit there, court filings show that Target denied the allegations that they knew of an extraordinary danger posed by the water beads and failed to notify customers.
The complaint was dismissed against Target in New York, Mann explained, due to jurisdiction. This lead to them refiling in Hennepin County this week.
In a statement to WCCO on the new legal action, a Target spokesperson said “We extend our deepest sympathies to those affected by this tragedy, and we worked closely with the manufacturer of the product at the time the incident occurred.”
Taylor Bethard, Esther Jo’s mother, has lead the charge to ban water beads entirely. Her efforts lead to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commision recalling the more than 52,000 Chuckle and Roar Ultimate Water Beads Activity Kits that were in circulation. The recall took effect in September of 2023. Target, Walmart and Amazon announced that they would stop marketing water beads to children.
Bethard is also working with Wisconsin U.S. State Senator Tammy Baldwin to establish federal legislation to permanently outlaw all water beads. This past spring, the CPSC established new legal guidelines that restrict the size of water beads to try to ensure high safety standards.
(WLUK) — Wisconsin State Patrol troopers are teaming up with truckers to better spot dangerous driving behaviors.
The annual Trooper in a Truck initiative kicks off next week in Wisconsin.
Troopers will ride along with with semitruck and bus drivers to use the higher vantage point to spot dangerous driving behaviors, especially near commercial motor vehicles.
Troopers will be looking for risky driving behaviors, including distracted driving, speeding, following too closely and seatbelt violations. When an officer identifies a violation from the truck or bus, they will radio to patrol cars in the area for appropriate enforcement action.
Drivers can expect to see Trooper in a Truck enforcement in the following areas:
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