Milwaukee County hopes to appease the state with an environment act over asbestos case

In an act in which it hopes will shed some of its liability in an environmental lawsuit over asbestos pollution, Milwaukee County has made plans to install bike racks on all public buses.

The idea behind the plan is to do an environmentally positive deed to make amends for causing the release of asbestos dust during its 2006 demolition of a county courthouse. The intention is to encourage people to ride their bikes and use public transportation instead of driving their cars, which contribute to exhaust fumes that hurt pollute the environment.

The estimated cost for the plan is expected to be $650,000 for the purchasing and installing of the bike racks to buses plus $110,000 every year for maintenance and loss of revenue from ads on the front of buses.

The county pitched the plan to the Wisconsin Justice Department, which had sued the county along with several contractors for the asbestos disaster. The justice department had rejected the county’s last request to count some time the county spent doing training on proper handling of asbestos toward a settlement for the case.

It has been heard that the county had been considering the bike rack plan already separate from the asbestos case.

Three of the four contractors involved in the case have already settled the case, agreeing to pay the state $105,000 in damages and fees. The fourth, Professional Service Industries, has yet to reach a deal with the government.

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