Polluter Reappointed as Land and Water Conservation Chair in Wisconsin County

Nothing to see here, assures John Pagel, owner of a factory farm
in Kewaunee County in the northeastern Wisconsin peninsula
Image: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The polluters are in charge in Kewaunee County in the northeastern Wisconsin peninsula.

This is all very well if you like cow shite and urine, and associated pathogens, in your drinking and bath water.

Karen Ebert Yancey, (USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin), reports the "Kewaunee County Board on Monday unanimously approved newly elected Chairman Robert Weidner's committee assignments, including the reappointment of CAFO owner John Pagel as chairman of the county's Land and Water Conservation Committee."

Pagel spends much of his time declaring his innocence, that of other polluting CAFOs and industrialized operations' using the same model in which these factory farms spray tons of liquefied manure into the community's environment, to tragic consequences. Said Pagel, "We are already showing from our county farmers that they are being proactive in trying to improve water quality in the county."

And "we sure can’t blame the CAFOs because we had this problem 50 years ago, before there were any CAFOs in Kewaunee County," said Pagel last year, (Schuessler, AlJazeera America).

In a recent piece at WisconsinWatch (Seely), Pagel continued his nothing to see here line: "I think with any new rules there should be a balance between safety and being practical."

Pagel and his ilk have a lurid idea of being "practical," likely not garnered from those poisoned, especially children and their families, from the pathogens they vector into private drinking wells and surface waters.

Probing the Public's Gullibility

Residents of Door and Kewaunee County point to a new PR offensive by Pagel and his fellow poisoners, citing recent pieces in the Door County Pulse reporting on the newly formed CAFO-led nonprofit organization, Peninsula Pride Farms. That's a catchy name, and far more effective than Poisoners Are Us.

Do not bathe or drink the water. There's another catchy tourist slogan for the northeastern Wisconsin peninsula. Kewaunee CARES cites the results of a DNR-funded study released on May 2:

DNR-funded study identifies trace amounts of salmonella, rotavirus in small sample of Kewaunee wells

MADISON, Wis.- As part of a DNR-funded study, test results reported late Monday afternoon show the presence of salmonella and/or rotavirus in 11 private Kewaunee County wells.

Property owners have been notified of the findings, which are typically associated with fecal contamination. No illnesses have been reported in connection with these findings.

The 11 property owners are being advised to stop using the water for drinking or bathing and have their wells chlorinated by a licensed professional. Property owners within a half mile radius of the affected wells are being advised by Kewaunee County to have their wells tested. 

Good thing John Pagel is looking out for Kewaunee County and being practical. The CDC reports, "Rotavirus is a contagious virus that can cause gastroenteritis (inflammation of the stomach and intestines). Symptoms include severe watery diarrhea, often with vomiting, fever, and abdominal pain. Infants and young children are most likely to get rotavirus disease. They can become severely dehydrated and need to be hospitalized and can even die."

In a related piece see Dave Zweifel's Plain Talk: Farmers fight back on DNR blacklist, (Capital Times).