MARINETTE — Marinette resident Andi Rich is running against Sen. Mary Felzkowski in the newly restructured District 12 State Senate race this November.
Rich is running on funding for rural schools, making childcare accessible, finding affordable housing and examining the PFAS problem with the community.
“I grew up here; I know that I have so much more in common with the voters in this district than differences,” Rich said, who works as a flood adjuster. “Even though I’m running as a Democrat, clean water is not a partisan issue.”
She’s been invested in the conversation surrounding PFAS groundwater contamination in Marinette for almost a decade.
On April 10, the Environmental Protection Agency set new Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCL) for PFOA and PFOS at 4 parts per trillion, down from 70 ppt. The agency also recently listed nine PFAS compounds as hazardous constituents. She said the news, which she celebrated with local activists, will be a huge wake-up call to people.
“On the other hand, we’re crying ourselves to sleep,” Rich said. “The EPA broke 30 years of precedent when they set drinking water standards and broke precedent of 40 years when they designated PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances. That should terrify everybody. These substances are more dangerous than people are aware.”
It’s not the only issue she’s concerned with, but it represents what people in the community have dealt with: silence.
“When you’ve been fighting for eight years and cannot get local legislators to act on your behalf, it’s discouraging,” Rich said. “It’s not that people don’t care. It’s that people have said all they can say, and nothing has happened.”
This can be for many issues, according to Rich, not just PFAS. She said many in the area believe they must compromise their child’s education to live in a rural area.
“Most schools, especially rural schools, are underfunded,” Rich said. “If you can’t bring in the best teachers, the students are not getting the best education.”
She thinks solutions to local housing could be found in maintaining existing properties.
“A lot of places around here are in dire need of repairs,” Rich said. “It’s not just affordability. It’s about making sure we maintain what’s already here.”
With the influx of traffic from the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard, she said the housing prices have gone through the roof. She would like to see assessments create projects that put money into the hands of people who need it.
She said that when people can’t see the scope of the problem or don’t have all the information, they may not be able to see the solutions. Knowledge is the key to lifting people from poverty or protecting them from contamination.
“I think the problem is not knowing,” Rich said.
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