Hundreds of local residents packed Adams meeting room to tell DNR of Richfield CAFO’s impact on environment and quality of life
Media Contacts:
John Peck, Family Farm Defenders, [email protected]. 608-260-0900
Bob Clarke, [email protected]. 608-296-1443
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 26, 2011
MADISON, Wis. – Less than a week after hundreds of local residents packed an Adams, Wis., meeting room to voice their objection to a factory farm’s efforts to bring 5,000 dairy cows to a small parcel of land, neighbors intensified their efforts to prevent the establishment of the Richfield CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation) by moving the fight into the legal realm.
Residents joined with Family Farm Defenders (FFD) to file a request for a contested case hearing with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and a petition for review in Dane County Circuit Court. On June 24, 2011, the Water Division of the WDNR had given statutory approval to the plans and specifications for the Richfield CAFO, owned by MilkSource Inc.
“We are not pleased with the statutory approval,” said Arlene and Hiroshi Kanno, board member of FFD and one of the parties who are bringing the complaint.
The legal filing questions the factual accuracy surrounding the factory farm’s bid to locate in central Wisconsin, taking issue with the impact that 5,000 cows and their manure will have on water and air quality for residents of nearby towns in an area that has been known as a tourist magnet recognized for clean waters and quality fishing.
But an equally important factor is the impact that factory farms are having on individual farmers.
“We are told that the DNR must expedite and limit conditions in these permits because it is good for the dairy industry. It may be good for the owners and investors in these CAFOs and good for dairy processors, but it is not good for other dairy farmers in the state,” said Sarah Lloyd, who farms with her husband and his family outside the Wisconsin Dells. “I don’t need 5,000 cows’ milk dumped on my market and I don’t need the increased land rent prices we are seeing as land competition grows because of these large farms.”
Many CAFOs around the country have been cited or fined for violating their water discharge permits. This includes MilkSource, in the case of their Rosendale and Tidy View CAFOs, with manure-spreading violations. (A CAFO generates the same amount of waste as a small city but, unlike a city, is not required to process or treat its sewage.)
“MilkSource was cited in Rosendale for spreading too close to a private well and again at Tidy View by spreading on a field not included in the Nutrient Management Plan or approved by the DNR,” said Coloma landowner Bob Clarke , one of the parties challenging the DNR and Richfield. In both cases, the violations became known to the DNR through citizen complaints.
In a letter to the DNR, neighbors of the Rosendale CAFO describes what has happened to their community since the factory farm moved in.
“We who live near the dairy or in areas surrounding spreading fields are experiencing health problems and wrongful loss of outdoor celebrations. Neighbors are suffering from migraines, asthma, pounding headaches, and chronic stress. When spreading occurs near neighboring gardens, some have taken to wearing a respiratory face mask for weeks in order to work in their own gardens. Hydrogen sulfide and ammonia are toxic emissions that now invade our breathing space. There has been absolutely no action from Rosendale Dairy in response to citizen complaints. We have simply been told it’s not going to get any better.”
The danger to the water supply is even greater.
“To us, the risk of polluted groundwater is too high, especially in the sandy soils in this area,” the Kannos said. “We also are extremely concerned with the unsustainable levels of pumping from the aquifer, and the possible drying of neighbors’ wells.”
MilkSource has estimated that it would use 52.5 million gallons of water per year, yet it proposes wells with the capacity to draw 525 million gallons from local aquifers. A decade ago, local residents defeated a bid by Perrier and Nestle to situate a water bottling facility in the area.
The Central Sands area includes the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge whose inhabitants include two endangered species, the whooping crane and the Karner Blue Butterfly. It’s also the home of the Ice Age Trail.
“What makes this area special – the Central Sands, the land of Aldo Leopold and John Muir – is that this is family farm country,” Clarke said. “But make no mistake – the Richfield CAFO is not a family farm.”
