It's not just land that was given to Foxconn. They were also relieved of a variety of environmental protections -- LCD manufacturing is a dirty industry that requires an enormous amount of water. Nobody did OK on that deal.
People pretty much knew the Foxconn deal was a fraud, because Foxconn, and the state government, both have a history of similar deals. There were some mining deals in northern Wisconsin that would make your hair stand on end.
For something situated on a Great Lake, the question is whether it has sufficient wastewater treatment, pumping the water in and out isn't a big deal, it's how dirty it is when you pump it back into the lake that matters.
Well, apparently they needed the existing environmental regulations to be waived. It was never revealed why, e.g., what chemicals they wanted to dump. They could simply be required to re-use their wastewater in a closed system, like nuclear power plants (for a different reason, heat generation). Then it can be as dirty or clean as it needs to be.
Also, the water doesn't belong to us. Use of Great Lakes water is governed by a treaty with Canada and administered by an international body that includes the states and provinces in the Great Lakes watershed.
Nuclear plants often have an open outer loop for their cooling. It's cheaper.
Like if you grab the environmental impact study from this license renewal for Point Beach Nuclear Plant near Green Bay, at maximum capacity it draws 1433 cubic feet per second from Lake Michigan and discharges it 23 degrees Fahrenheit warmer:
People pretty much knew the Foxconn deal was a fraud, because Foxconn, and the state government, both have a history of similar deals. There were some mining deals in northern Wisconsin that would make your hair stand on end.