In the News
DNR Sends Back Pierce Co. Dairy Expansion Application
Federal Lawsuit: EPA Allows Livestock Factories to Pollute Leaving Locals Buried in Waste
Federal Lawsuit: EPA Allows Livestock Factories to Pollute Leaving Locals Buried in Waste
8.26.24 Wisconsin Examiner - Local Resistance Leads to DNR Rejection
"The DNR required the company to “submit written verification that the dairy operation has permission to land-apply manure and process wastewater to all fields that are not under common ownership of Ridge Breeze Dairy.”
Federal Lawsuit: EPA Allows Livestock Factories to Pollute Leaving Locals Buried in Waste
Federal Lawsuit: EPA Allows Livestock Factories to Pollute Leaving Locals Buried in Waste
Federal Lawsuit: EPA Allows Livestock Factories to Pollute Leaving Locals Buried in Waste
9.14.24 - Keith Schneider Covers EPA Challenge
"For the third time in two decades the Environmental Protection Agency appeared in federal Appellate Court this week to defend its admittedly flawed approach to regulating the billions of pounds of manure running off into the nation’s waters from large industrial animal feeding operations."
Hundreds Object to Pierce Co. Dairy Factory Expansion Permit
Hundreds Object to Pierce Co. Dairy Factory Expansion Permit
Hundreds Object to Pierce Co. Dairy Factory Expansion Permit
7.15.24 Wisconsin Examiner - Local Resistance Shreds Draft Permit
"More than 100 people packed into an auditorium in Elmwood to watch and comment from a location with more reliable internet than their homes, while hundreds more joined in on Zoom. Dozens of people spoke, yet only one, from the Dairy Business Association, spoke in favor of the expansion."
Wisconsin Governor Evers Vetoes Anti-Local Control Bill
Hundreds Object to Pierce Co. Dairy Factory Expansion Permit
Hundreds Object to Pierce Co. Dairy Factory Expansion Permit
4.5.24 St. Croix 360 - Evers vetoes bill attempting to squash local control.
"Legislation would have prevented communities from passing any protections from large-scale livestock operations. "
CAFOs Sue DNR to End Clean Water Regulations
Hundreds Object to Pierce Co. Dairy Factory Expansion Permit
Dairy factory fined $209k for operating with no permit
3.8.24 WPR covers legal challenge from lobby group founded by some of Wisconsin's biggest factories, including Emerald Sky Dairy in St. Croix County which has multiple pollution violations and fines.
"Farm groups are appealing a ruling that found state environmental regulators can require large livestock farms to obtain wastewater discharge permits..."
Dairy factory fined $209k for operating with no permit
Dairy factory fined $209k for operating with no permit
Dairy factory fined $209k for operating with no permit
6.11.24 - Wisconsin Examiner's Henry Redman laws out the charges
"Mlsna’s permit expired in 2015, yet the farm continued to operate...The farm operated without a permit for 2,501 days."
Wisconsin's court order against CAFO is unusual
Dairy factory fined $209k for operating with no permit
Wisconsin's court order against CAFO is unusual
7.25.24 Cap Times - Only 15 Wisconsin DNR staff oversee 336 CAFOs
DNR inspectors try to check farms every five years...Between five-year inspections, Dix said, the state relies on citizens for help monitoring.
Emerald Sky Dairy Monetizes New DNR CAFO Permit
Dairy factory fined $209k for operating with no permit
Wisconsin's court order against CAFO is unusual
5.1.24 Just months after receiving a permit to double in size, Emerald sells dairy factory to large corporation.
In March, despite significant public opposition, the DNR granted the permit renewal and allowed the expansion.
WI Citizens Sue DNR Over Weak CAFO Permit
"Hogtied" Outstanding Series on 5-year Battle to Build Wisconsin's Biggest Hog CAFO
"Hogtied" Outstanding Series on 5-year Battle to Build Wisconsin's Biggest Hog CAFO
4.25.24 Portage County residents contest settlement made without public input
" The plaintiffs in the lawsuit live or have lived near the Nelsonville farm’s properties and have seen elevated levels of nitrates in the water they get from their private drinking wells. "
"Hogtied" Outstanding Series on 5-year Battle to Build Wisconsin's Biggest Hog CAFO
"Hogtied" Outstanding Series on 5-year Battle to Build Wisconsin's Biggest Hog CAFO
"Hogtied" Outstanding Series on 5-year Battle to Build Wisconsin's Biggest Hog CAFO
12.11.23 Wisconsin Watch's Bennet Goldstein does more than 100 interviews and reviews 5,000 documents.
"Beneath a clash of values and personalities is a broader question: Who gets to determine farming’s future?"
WI Local Officials Flexing Muscles with CAFOs
"Hogtied" Outstanding Series on 5-year Battle to Build Wisconsin's Biggest Hog CAFO
Along the St. Croix River, big ag plans prompt water-quality worries, new restrictions
5.2.22 Cap Times' Bill Berry covers town efforts to protect public health and property values.
"Towns in northwestern Wisconsin are implementing ordinances that regulate the operation of CAFOs.... DBA says the state’s livestock siting laws prevent locals from passing ordinances to regulate the factories. The interesting twist is the towns say the siting law doesn’t apply, because they’re regulating operations, not siting."
Along the St. Croix River, big ag plans prompt water-quality worries, new restrictions
Along the St. Croix River, big ag plans prompt water-quality worries, new restrictions
Along the St. Croix River, big ag plans prompt water-quality worries, new restrictions
Star Tribune's Matt McKinney takes a river-wide view.
"Proposals for a large hog farm, a dairy farm expansion and a biogas digester have prompted outcry from people worried about the impact on water quality and public health."
Cow manure contaminates wells in Kewaunee County
Along the St. Croix River, big ag plans prompt water-quality worries, new restrictions
Cow manure contaminates wells in Kewaunee County
Arlin and Mary Lou Karnopp live on property once owned by Arlin’s great-grandfather. They can't drink the water.
"Study findings raise questions about the effectiveness of existing regulations aimed at protecting residents from tainted drinking water."
Background Articles
Mississippi River Farms Pollute Local Waters & Gulf Dead Zone
"What we’re up against.” Towns fight Farm Bureau to Keep Water Clean
"What we’re up against.” Towns fight Farm Bureau to Keep Water Clean
6.19.24 - Investigate Midwest - Not Just a Gulf Problem
"Worsening local effects on health and recreation in states like Minnesota and Wisconsin are spurring action on problems that also cause the Gulf of Mexico’s chronic ‘dead zone.’ "
"What we’re up against.” Towns fight Farm Bureau to Keep Water Clean
"What we’re up against.” Towns fight Farm Bureau to Keep Water Clean
"What we’re up against.” Towns fight Farm Bureau to Keep Water Clean
11.1.23 In-depth reporting by Keith Schneider on towns from North Dakota to Missouri, Iowa and Wisconsin defending their water.
“We got documentation from the pig boys’ engineers that said they’re going to build a 12-foot-deep pit under the facility – four-inch concrete, no rebar, only wire mesh. No rubber lining,” said Steinhaus. “They were going to store millions of gallons of manure in that pit. Yeah. Water pollution is a concern here.”
Dairy Workers Are Dying
EPA sued for better regulation of large farms to protect water
EPA sued for better regulation of large farms to protect water
10.25.23 - ProPublica's Maryam Jameel and Melissa Sanchez document enforcement of worker safety on dairy farms.
"One night in March of this year, Florencio Gómez Rodríguez drowned after he drove a skid steer into a 14-foot-deep pond filled with cow manure on a dairy farm where he worked."
EPA sued for better regulation of large farms to protect water
EPA sued for better regulation of large farms to protect water
EPA sued for better regulation of large farms to protect water
9.12.23 - WPR - More than a dozen groups are suing the Environmental Protection Agency to force better regulation of livestock factories.
"Factory farms are polluters by design — true environmental protection requires a willingness by EPA to confront this industry head on," Heinzen said. "It is high time EPA addressed the crisis it has spent decades enabling."