“The DNR can no longer hide behind the implication that facilities are just doing a better job of complying with their permits,” said Jimmy Parra, a Midwest Environmental Advocates attorney. “The reality is that DNR isn’t inspecting facilities as it should be and isn’t taking enforcement action in accordance with its own policy.”

Auditors also examined how quickly the DNR renewed five-year pollution permits, legal documents that establish limits for waste water discharges, and found the agency usually missed its goal of renewing 85 to 90 percent of permits before they expire.

Over the 11 years the audit covered, the goal was missed six times for municipal waste water operators, twice for CAFOs and every year for industrial polluters. The audit found 41 incidents, or 2.9 percent of the total, in which it took the DNR six or more years to renew an expired permit.

Permit holders continue to operate under the conditions of the expired permit until a new one is issued, which means they may not be subject to new limits that are set based on the latest scientific research, Parra said.

A good example can be seen in the exacting phosphorus standards for waste water the DNR adopted in 2010 to control unnatural weed and algae growth that afflicts hundreds of lakes and streams, Parra said.