Yesterday, I got a letter from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) that I’ve known was on its way since last February.
You see, in February we rec’d word that the largest Dairy CAFO in Wisconsin would be "permitted" by the WDNR. What would you do? Listen:
This dairy CAFO, in the Town of Rosendale, we call it CAFO-RD, asked for a permit to Confine 11,500 Animal Units. The WDNR wrote an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) telling everyone why this CAFO wasn’t a good idea. The 197 page EIS points to issues like the 127 species of birds, invertebrates, and suchlike that could be harmed in nearby grasslands, marshes and fields. It mentioned the 94 million gallons of cow manure that would be land-spread on 5631 acres of crop land, across 4 major area watersheds and already EPA 303d-listed waters (The largest untreated sewage area in the state of Wisconsin...even the cities of Milwaukee and Madison, though slightly larger, at least have some sewage treatment.)
The EIS discussed the negative traffic impact to small rural roads per year (26,000 truckloads of manure, feed, and suchlike.) This was a minor problem compared to the harmful effects of air quality, the pervasive dust, and the likelihood of manure spills into nearby surface and groundwater.
The EIS further criticized the locating of this CAFO on this delicate karst region of Wisconsin (karst, is a geologic condition where the porous nature of the soil provides an easy conduit to the groundwater.) The particular problem in this case is where much of the land-spreading will be done on topographic surfaces estimated to be less than 24 inches to groundwater in some places.
In other words, after an extensive research of various WDNR departmental "scientists and experts" a Permit for Phase 1 was issued. (A little history perhaps, our WDNR used to "protect our resources." They used to be the agency you could count on if someone took advantage of "the public trust." Further, all water in Wisconsin used to be protected for the "common good.")
The reason WDNR gave their approval was because this CAFO-RD would bring annual revenues to a rural setting of an estimated $70 Million (This number was provided by CAFO-RD!) This, in addition to the $100 Million to erect the CAFO (Figures provided by CAFO-RD). Is it only about the money?
Throughout the summer, I read the COMMENTS and from the "hearing" and WDNR responses. I must add--some of those comments were "heady" stuff; the Sierra Club, Midwest Environmental Advocates, and local folks who live nearby expressed some science of their own. For example, local folks knew the location of formerly abandoned drain tiles in fields designated for land-spreading, though ignored by CAFO-RD and WDNR field staff. (The CAFO-RD and WDNR said "they couldn’t find them.") Again, these fields are already in peril because of the tenuous soil depth to groundwater. The Sierra Club stated a reasonable depot for the 94 million gallons of manure should be calculated at 1.6 acres per cow; more than twice the available acres as stated by CAFO-RD. Additionally, Midwest Environmental Advocates (MEA) challenged the problems with the negligent Nutrient Management Plan. MEA pointed to other environmental Wisconsin statutes which were being violated. (Who's numbers should we trust?)
And though there were legions of petitioners which opposed this CAFO-RD --a CAFO which continued to build concrete cesspool containment and facilities to confine their herd throughout the summer. It didn’t matter.
That was the NOTICE I rec’d yesterday. We have 30 days (December 3, 2009) to respond. I find this very depressing...What would you say? Is it worthy of further formal comment?