Wisconsin Water Activists Call for Moratorium on Factory Farms, CAFOs

Wisconsin citizens Call for Moratorium
on Factory Farms, CAFOs. Petition is live.

Citizens Launch Moratorium on Factory Farms, CAFOs Petition

Madison, Wisconsin — In the village of Rome, Wisconsin, lake community residents in central Wisconsin are fighting for their lives, water, and homes on which retired folks have carved out a place for peace.

Dreams of having grand-kids over on languid, Summer days are imperiled. The calm satisfaction of a lifetime of work as a foundation on which loved ones can relax has been replaced with anxiety and betrayal.

Anyone ever observe a grandparent watching children at play? It's a sacred phenomenon: Pride, protection, laughter, and calm satisfaction that biologically and spiritually, life continues.

The good life not sacred in Wisconsin anymore.

This northern state with 10,000s of lakes is targeted by the Republican Party of Wisconsin and their financial patrons, industrialized agriculture and factory farms, (CAFOs for Confined Agricultural Feeding Operations).

CAFOs deplete and pollute surface and ground water to such a degree that Wisconsin lakes and other water bodies running dry, closed because of toxic blooms, drinking-water contamination, and children being rushed to the hospital for bathing are an accepted rite of Summer, like mosquitoes at night.

Stop
Rome Concerned Citizens in Adams County Wisconsin, working to protect the water, and to stop the operation of a massive CAFO, has connected with clean water allies.  They are demanding a Moratorium on new Factory Farms, CAFOs. Direct action is being contemplated, sources close to the effort say.

The Moratorium on new Factory Farms, CAFOs was launched in June by the Sustain Rural Wisconsin Network.
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From Rome Concerned Citizens,

We have fought against the proposed CAFO in Saratoga these past five years and all the while lobbyists have pressured our legislature for more.

Many of you have been involved, and hundreds of you have had your wells tested, or are going to have your wells tested to establish a baseline.

Kewaunee County [in northeastern Wisconsin] has the highest concentration of dairy CAFOs at 16 and their drinking water wells show it. Over 60 percent of their drinking water wells are unusable because of manure pollution.

This proposal for a moratorium says stop and assess before we approve any more.

Concerned Rome Citizens and nearly every environmental group we know of has signed on in support. Every county and municipality in the state has been contacted.

Check with your community and ask if they are taking part. Then, sign the moratorium as an individual.
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You know what central Wisconsin residents are doing this Summer? Organizing water testing events:

Friends and neighbors,

The summer is speeding by, before you know it the kids will be back in school, the color of the leaves will be changing, and the Supreme Court will announce their decision whether to hear the Wysocki appeal.  We will know within months if we need to hunker down to fight another day or if the end has truly come in this long fight.  If there ever was a time to be sending positive vibes out into the universe or a prayers up to the skies it is now.  We are not expected to hear any news until September so communications and update may be a little sparse throughout the next few months. Until then ... enjoy your summer!
 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! Saratoga / Rome Water Testing Weekends Scheduled

With the long wait ahead we must remain vigilant and active in our fight against Wysocki. We have no way of knowing what the higher court will decided, because of this, we plan to continue to build our wall of resistance.  Protect Wood County & Its Neighbors will be hosting a second community wide water testing event.  Another round of data and baseline measures of our water conditions will be key if we once again are forced to fight in the courts.  Everyone is encouraged to have their water tested, even if you participated last round it is important to have your water tested again to show consistency over time.

Testing will be held on the following weekends from 7AM to 5PM daily:

• July 15-16 (Rome community water testing - alternate instructions HERE)
• July 22-23
• July 29-30
• August 5-6

NOTE: TESTING PROCEDURES ARE DIFFERENT THAN LAST ROUND.  We strongly encourage residents to sign up for their desired weekend of testing, complete all necessary paperwork to the best of their ability, and make payment ONLINE.  Registering online will guarantee you a testing bottle on your chosen weekend, walk-ins may or may not be able to be accommodated.  You can access the registration site by following the link provided HERE,  If registering online is a problem we can accommodate your registration by phone, please contact Bruce Dimick (715) 325-1990 OR respond to this email with a name and phone number and we will get in touch with you directly.

Testing bottles will be available for pick-up at the Saratoga Town Office (building next to the hall) on Saturdays with water samples to be returned by homeowners on Sundays between the hours of 7AM and 5PM.  As we did last time, we will deliver all samples to the UWSP Water and Environmental Analysis Lab for testing.

Two test options will be offered:

• Chloride/Nitrate  -  $26.00
• Homeowners Package  -  $49.00

ATTENTION PLEASE - organizing and manning the town hall on three separate weekends is no small task, it is one that is much too big for our small leadership team to manage independently. We are in need of volunteers to assist with this event.  Any amount of time you are willing to provide would be greatly appreciated.  The hours will be 7AM-5PM both days with each day divided into two shifts, we estimate the need for 3 volunteers per shift.  On Saturdays we will be signing people up and passing out the sample bottles.  On Sundays we will be collecting the sample bottles and putting them on ice in coolers for transport to UWSP.  Because we are encouraging on-line registration this should simplify the Saturday registrations.  The tasks are not difficult and one of the core group members will be in attendance at all times to answer questions and make sure everything's running smoothly.  If you have been looking for a chance to support the cause, this is a great opportunity.

You can sign up to assist by following the link provided HERE  or by contacting Bruce Dimick (715) 325-1990.  We appreciate your consideration in lending a hand.

Wisconsin Lake Communties Fight Big Ag Polluters

Our plentiful Wisconsin surface waters include three lakes in northern Adams county, Lakes Arrowhead, Camelot and Sherwood located around the town of Rome in central Wisconsin.

The lakes are beautiful, and many a retired grandparent has their grand-kids over for fun, recreation, the simple joy of watching children playing.

Against this is Big Ag that without conscience pollutes, depletes and poisons the lakes, imperiling a region Wisconsin as a state should be protecting and nourishing.

Residents of Rome have taken issue with this writer's being too harsh in describing what Big Ag is inflicting. I get it, I speak for myself.

It's difficult to market a region as an attraction for tourism and recreation as Wisconsin Republicans are working against you, and water.

If industrialized agriculture polluters and its protectors are not stopped, there is not going to be a Rome, Wisconsin. Ask the folks who live on Long Lake in Waushara County in central Wisconsin, (Bergquist, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel).

Big Ag is politically protected. Gov. Scott Walker (R) and State Rep. Scott Krug (R-Nekoosa) are on the side of the polluters who sell out decent, hard-working families who moved to central Wisconsin the last decades for peace—a small home on a lake, paradise in central Wisconsin.

Here's the latest communication from Rome resident, Don Ystad:

Interesting timing, after a TriLakes annual meeting attended by 100 people agreeing unanimously that we need qualified help in addressing our water issues, this article should appear in the Milwaukee Journal discussing the water level issues in our central sands area. It amplifies the difference in attitudes of an agriculture industry intent on expansion compared with citizens trying to protect their lakes, streams and drinking water wells.  As you reflect on your holiday weekend up here and the condition of our water, please support TriLakes in their efforts to urge our town to co-sponsor a citizen meeting with knowledgeable speakers to understand our water issues and begin determining a course of action to clean up our lakes and protect them.

Ystad references Lee Bergquist's important series appearing in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel this week.

Bergquist's work is a must-read, because clean and safe water in Wisconsin under Republican rule is going to become a memory.

Writes Bergquist:

In a major policy shift, the [Republican-led] Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said on June 10 that it will no longer place restrictions on high-capacity wells, or deny applications for new wells, by first evaluating the cumulative effect they could have on the ecosystem.

A leading Wisconsin water scientist said the new approach is a step backward.

'The frustrating thing for me is that it puts us back on a footing of an unplanned future for water use,' said Ken Bradbury, director of the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey. 'In other words, it’s sort of everyone for themselves again.'

The DNR changed its review process after receiving a legal opinion from Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel, who concluded the agency did not have the authority to consider the compounding effects of such water use. He was responding to a request from Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and a GOP-dominated legislative committee.

'It was all a predetermined, preordained strategy by the attorney general, the DNR, the governor and Robin Vos and the Legislature,' said Carl Sinderbrand, a Madison attorney who has litigated cases involving high-capacity wells. 'They wanted to prevent the DNR from regulating wells.'

Clean and safe water in Wisconsin, this is one resource that if ignored will go away.