Neighbor has concerns about Cassian rehab center

To the Editor:

I am writing to talk about problems with the drug rehab center proposed by the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council to be built in the Town of Cassian, Wisconsin. There are so many red flags with this proposed facility being placed in this residential neighborhood.

The first issue is security — there won’t be any. The only fence they have planned is around the dumpster. The next issue involves bringing in three-phase power. They say this would benefit the neighborhood, but nobody needs three-phase power in a residential home. This only invites more commercial expansion in a residential neighborhood. Another issue is the very poor well productivity in this area. The soil is only about 40 to 50 feet deep before it is solid granite. 

I live about 300 yards from this proposed facility. My well can pump 3 gallons per minute, which is considered very low. They plan on pumping 5,800 gallons of water per day. The average family of five uses about 500 gallons. I spoke with a well driller who is very familiar with the area. He said there is no way they would be able to pump that much water out of that area, and that they couldn’t have picked a worse area to build a facility like this. They should have done their homework first before purchasing this land. 

In addition, what about the massive septic system that would be needed? Nitrates from the system would cause problems with the drinking water in the other 37 wells within a one-square-mile radius. If they did pump 5,800 gallons of water, that would also seriously impact those 37 wells. As a comparison, the new Marshfield Hospital is a 24-bed facility. This is planned as a 36-bed facility with 50 employees. I would call this a commercial facility, but the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council is calling it residential. The required infrastructure is not there and would not support it.  

This facility does not belong in this residential neighborhood. In addition, according to the township attorney, a drug rehab center doesn’t fall within the zoning ordinances. I urge the Oneida County Zoning Board to vote “NO.”

Greg Dupuis

Cassian