After years of violations, Wisconsin industrial barrel plant addresses mercury in water

Mercury has been detected in wastewater coming from an industrial barrel refurbishing plant in St. Francis for at least  four years — and more than a dozen times levels exceeded legally permitted limits.

Since at least January 2013, records show the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District has repeatedly issued warning letters to the company that runs the Mid-America Steel Drum plant, asking it to solve its mercury discharge problem.

But the district issued no fines and took no action against the company`s permit and the violations continued, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation has found.

Mercury, a heavy metal, is a closely monitored environmental toxin that in high enough concentrations can attack the nervous system of humans and wildlife...