Walmartization of Wisconsin's Dairy Heritage

Clean water activists in Saratoga, Wisconsin fight for
water and oppose the siting of a proposed factory farm

Wisconsin residents are working to preserve a way of life, and revitalize a beautiful state primed for tourism and recreation.

Big Ag's response is a hard 'no.'

The Wysocki Family of Companies wants to begin operations of a massive factory farm sited in Saratoga, Wisconsin.

The problem for Wyscoki who first blindsided the region in 2012 with his plans is massive opposition to this project and a milk glut that makes the whole idea irrational for the foreseeable future.

That Wysocki's project would devastate a four-county region in central Wisconsin is not a concern for this corporation.

Over the entire state, citizen action is fighting the "Walmartization" of Wisconsin's dairy heritage, (Rome Saratoga Friendly, Kewaunee Cares).

By Don Ystad of Rome, Wisconsin

An interesting historical perspective on the milk lobby. Demand dwindles as consumers question the health benefit of drinking milk, and family farmers are driven out by the factory farmers. Meanwhile commerce in rural towns evaporates as small dairy farmers hang it up. The Walmartization of our dairy heritage.

And, Wysocki has now filed for appeal of the recent ruling reversing his vested rights. It makes one wonder why Wysocki would persist with his plans for a 5,300 cow dairy CAFO in Saratoga in a declining market, and in a residential/recreation area where local government and citizens are lined up by the hundreds to make his life miserable if he is successful in his appeal to the supreme court. I don't pretend to know about any behind the scenes negotiations that may have happened, but if the alternative is to abide by Saratoga's ordinance limiting the size of a farm and manure application, it's no wonder he would appeal.

So, what do we do in the meantime? Keep the pressure on our legislators to try to undo the lobbying influence of big agriculture. Support the legal actions being taken by Clean Wisconsin against the DNR for issuing high cap wells permits that ignore cumulative effect. Have your well tested to establish a baseline. For Rome-area people, you can register for testing and get your bottle at the Rome Town Hall on Saturday, July 15th - watch for details. Let's keep moving forward until we know Wysocki is finally defeated.

Read on - interesting article from National Public Radio.

Don
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When's the last time you had a glass of cow's milk?

Americans are drinking a lot less milk than they used to. According to the U. S. Department of Agriculture, the average person drinks 18 gallons a year. Back in the 1970s it was more like 30 gallons a year. We once hoisted a glass with dinner, soaked our breakfast cereal or dipped into the occasional milkshake.

Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University and author of Food Politics, says, "The dairy industry has a lot of public relations that it is going to need to do to convince the public that it is producing a product that is healthy, good for animals, good for people and good for the planet."

Central Wisconsin Is Determined to Stop Proposed Factory Farm

Protect Wood County Wisconsin and Its Neighbors, says
a growing citizens movement in central Wisconsin

News the corporation owning a proposed factory farm is seeking Supreme Court review of a state appellate decision threatening the project has citizens determined to stop the operation of the complex first proposed in 2012 and sited in central Wisconsin.

Even as the Wysocki Family of Companies plans to pollute the region with 10s of millions of gallons of liquid cow manure annually while depleting ground and surface waters, communities plan to protect the water and their homes.

The case is 2015AP001258, Golden Sands Dairy LLC v. Town of Saratoga, [(Wisconsin Court System), (Mal Contends), (Mal Contends), (Golden Sands Dairy LLC v. Town of Saratoga, (Wisconsin Court System), (Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune), (Mal Contends), (WSAW-TV)]. [Note, enter   15ap1258   in the Appeal Number field, leave the rest of fields blank and hit search at bottom-left of the linked Wisconsin Supreme Court page.]

The prospects for Wysocki to succeed at the Wisconsin Supreme Court in this litigation are not conditioned on case and statutory law in Wisconsin with respect to an area of property rights in vested rights law.

Industrialized agriculture is power-politics, corruption of the law and the will to destroy entire communities without regard to anything or anybody beyond money for the publicly subsidized Wysocki corporation.

The Republican Party has backed Wysocki with a series of legislative and regulatory assaults on the generations-long commitment of Wisconsin to protect water.

Of the several sources contacted who oppose the Wysocki factory farm in central Wisconsin, all say they do agree their families mean little in the face of the Republican Party's commitment to abdicate protecting Wisconsin waters by simply declaring that protections such as Wisconsin's Public Trust doctrine have been misinterpreted by policymakers.

The language on the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources webpage now reads in part: "Wisconsin citizens have pursued legal and legislative action to clarify or change how this body of law is interpreted and implemented."

The Republican Party of Wisconsin looks for increased clarity in the coming months, (Johnson, Wisconsin Public Radio).

After-all, with respect to public water resources, recall the Orwellian report that "at just this moment it had been announced that Oceania was not after all at war with Eurasia. Oceania was at war with Eastasia," (Orwell, 1984).

From an email communication sent to supporters of Protect Wood County, (Wisconsin), and Its Neighbors, a motley crew of Winston Smith Wisconsinites refusing to bend to the threat to their homes and their health.
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Phone contact this afternoon to the clerk's office of the Wisconsin Supreme Court confirmed Wysocki has appealed the State Appellate Court decision regarding vested rights.  He officially filed his appeal today to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. 

What now and what does this all mean?  First, the court will determine if it will indeed hear the case or reject the appeal. According to www.wicourts.gov The losing party in the Court of Appeals may ask the Wisconsin Supreme Court to hear the case, called a Petition for Review. The Supreme Court receives about 1,000 petitions for review each term, and agrees to hear approximately 100 of these cases (Sept.-June).

The Wysocki -vs- Saratoga case will first receive a preliminary review to determine if it should even be considered by the Justices.  If it is determined that no review is appropriate the case is over and the State Appellate ruling stands.  If it is determined that it may be a reviewable case it will then go before the Justices, it takes the vote of at least three justices to take a case on a Petition for Review and have it placed on the Supreme Court calendar.

There is no solid information on how long it will take to determine if our case will be heard at the Supreme Court level. We will be watching this closely and will let you know as soon as we hear a determination.

What can be done while we wait?  First and foremost, we continue to bring forth the truth regarding the effects of the proposed CAFO to our community and groundwater in a very public and outspoken manner.  Multiple avenues are open to us to continue to spread the word about Wysocki and the potential contamination from his proposed project.

Once again we need all hands on deck spreading the word loud and clear to Wysocki that we will continue to fight back no matter how far he chooses to push.

Assistance needed in the following areas.

Parade Crew Needed!

June 18th
12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Once again we are looking for fresh ideas and friendly faces to join our Parade Committee.  We need to start brainstorming and organizing this year's float for the Cranberry Blossom Parade.

Participating in the parade allows us to connect with thousands of locals to spread the word about our situation and our fight. This event is an excellent opportunity to share our message and encourage others to stand with us.

The parade date will be upon us faster than you think, do not delay and register your commitment today.

Please click here to sign up for Parade Committee

Sign Crew

Spring repairs are needed after winter weather damage.

Some of our ladies need attention.  Sun damage, old age, and winter weather have taken a toll on signs throughout the community.  We are looking for volunteers to hit them with a little fresh paint and perhaps replace ones that have come down over the past few months.  Anyone willing to assist in this endeavor would be greatly appreciated. 

We will also be ordering new plastic signs for those lost to the winter snow.  We will keep you posted as to when these become available.

Please click here to sign up to be a part of the Sign Committee

Water Testing Event

Plans are in the works!

We have no idea what will happen in the courts with Wysocki. What we do know is we are not about to let our guard down and become complacent.  Instead we will continue to be proactive in protecting our community.  Part of being proactive is once again conducting tests to prove our water in Saratoga is pristine.

This is just a heads up that we once again will be hosting a water testing event later this summer.  We do not have specifics cemented in stone, but wanted to alert everyone to be watching for further information.

Regardless of the latest court decision, our fight with Wysocki is not over.  Everyone is once again encouraged to have their water tested and included in the town's records.

Stay tuned for further updates coming soon.

Updated - Central Wisconsin Proposed Factory Farm Expected to Make Big Decision Today

Clean water activists in Saratoga, Wisconsin fight for
water and oppose the siting of a proposed factory farm.

Updated - Wyscoki factory farm petition filed at Wisconsin Supreme Court. [Note , enter   15ap1258   in the Appeal Number field, leave the rest of fields blank and hit search at bottom-left of the linked Wisconsin Supreme Court page.]
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A proposed massive factory farm in central Wisconsin has until the end of May 15, Monday to file an appeal to an adverse state appellate decision threatening to kill the Wysocki Family of Companies' plan for the operation of the Golden Sands Dairy, (LLC), in the town of Saratoga.

The appeal would be made to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. [Note , enter   15ap1258   in the Appeal Number field, leave the rest of fields blank and hit search at bottom-left of the linked Wisconsin Supreme Court page.]

The case is 2015AP001258, Golden Sands Dairy LLC v. Town of Saratoga, [(Wisconsin Court System), (Mal Contends), (Mal Contends), (Golden Sands Dairy LLC v. Town of Saratoga, (Wisconsin Court System), (Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune), (Mal Contends), (WSAW-TV)].

Sources contacted in Wood County Wisconsin have no idea what the Wysocki corporation will do, and believe a last-minute filing that would not be reflected in the online Wisconsin court system until Tuesday morning is possible. Other sources say the proposed CAFO may be dead, stressing they don't know.

The proposed Wysocki factory farm has caused sleepy central Wisconsin to ignite as communities in Adams and Wood counties have erupted in protest. They fear the operation of the CAFO would pollute waters and devalue property in this entire region.

Following is an April 13 press release from the prevailing parties representing the community of Saratoga and residents opposing the operation of the Wysocki CAFO:

CONTACT

Sarah Botham, Botham, ink.; sarahbotham@bothamink.com or 608.444.1101
Attorney Paul Kent at Stafford Rosenbaum; pkent@staffordlaw.com or 608.259.2665 or
Attorney Remzy Bitar at Arenz, Molter, Macy, Riffle & Larson SC; rbitar@ammr.net; (262) 548-1340

COURT OF APPEALS SAYS WYSOCKI’S BUILDING PERMITS DO NOT AUTHORIZE USE OF 4,660 ACRES IN TOWN OF SARATOGA FOR LAND-SPREADING MANURE
The Town’s 2012 zoning ordinance governs land use off of the site of the diary buildings.

MADISON, Wis. [April 13, 2017] The 4th District Court of Appeals ruled today in favor of the Town of Saratoga, holding that the vested rights that the Wysocki Family of Companies have in a building permit for seven dairy buildings on 98 acres do not authorize them to use more than 4,660 acres throughout the Town for the application of manure, according to Attorney Remzy Bitar, one of the attorneys representing the Town on the appeal.   In so doing, the court overturned a 2015 circuit court ruling in Wysocki’s favor and directed the circuit court to enter summary judgement for the Town. In 2012 the Wysocki Family of Companies proposed the siting of Golden Sands Dairy (GSD), a 5300-cow operation, in the Central Wisconsin Town of Saratoga.

“We are pleased with the Court of Appeals decision, Bitar said. “The circuit court decision was an unprecedented extension of existing vested rights law, which the Court of Appeals refused to adopt.” Today’s decision allows a 2012 Town zoning ordinance that restricts agricultural use because of concerns regarding groundwater contamination, to control the land use for those 4,660 acres.  This decision precludes Wysocki from using the property to land-apply 55 million gallons of liquid manure and 25,000 tons of solid manure generated at GSD.

In an earlier round of cases, the courts held that the Wysocki’s building permit application for seven dairy buildings was valid because the application was filed before the Town completed its zoning ordinance.  In the current case, Wysocki argued that building permits for seven buildings automatically allowed Golden Sands Dairy the right to land-apply manure to 4,660 acres throughout the Town and away from the building site. That was rejected by the Court of Appeals which noted that the Wisconsin vested rights law has not applied to parcels separate from the parcels for which the building permit was issued.

“We hope this decision will facilitate a resolution of this on-going dispute,” said Attorney Paul Kent, representing the Town with respect to other issues associated with GSD.
#

Wisconsin Town Releases Statement on Legal Victory Against Factory Farm

Reactions from citizen groups in social media are pouring in now as word has spread a state appellate court ruled that over 1,000s of acres of land may not used as a massive cow manure dumping ground by the Wysocki Family of Companies, a known polluter of rural Wisconsin communities.

The case is 2015AP001258, Golden Sands Dairy LLC v. Town of Saratoga, (Wisconsin Court System).

The 15-page opinion was issued by appellate Judges Lundsten, Higginbotham and Blanchard.

Following is a press release from the prevailing parties representing communities and residents:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT

Sarah Botham, Botham, ink.; sarahbotham@bothamink.com or 608.444.1101

Attorney Paul Kent at Stafford Rosenbaum; pkent@staffordlaw.com or 608.259.2665 or

Attorney Remzy Bitar at Arenz, Molter, Macy, Riffle & Larson SC; rbitar@ammr.net; (262) 548-1340

COURT OF APPEALS SAYS WYSOCKI’S BUILDING PERMITS DO NOT AUTHORIZE USE OF 4,660 ACRES IN TOWN OF SARATOGA FOR LAND-SPREADING MANURE

The Town’s 2012 zoning ordinance governs land use off of the site of the diary buildings.

MADISON, Wis. [April 13, 2017] The 4th District Court of Appeals ruled today in favor of the Town of Saratoga, holding that the vested rights that the Wysocki Family of Companies have in a building permit for seven dairy buildings on 98 acres do not authorize them to use more than 4,660 acres throughout the Town for the application of manure, according to Attorney Remzy Bitar, one of the attorneys representing the Town on the appeal.   In so doing, the court overturned a 2015 circuit court ruling in Wysocki’s favor and directed the circuit court to enter summary judgement for the Town. In 2012 the Wysocki Family of Companies proposed the siting of Golden Sands Dairy (GSD), a 5300-cow operation, in the Central Wisconsin Town of Saratoga.

“We are pleased with the Court of Appeals decision, Bitar said. “The circuit court decision was an unprecedented extension of existing vested rights law, which the Court of Appeals refused to adopt.” Today’s decision allows a 2012 Town zoning ordinance that restricts agricultural use because of concerns regarding groundwater contamination, to control the land use for those 4,660 acres.  This decision precludes Wysocki from using the property to land-apply 55 million gallons of liquid manure and 25,000 tons of solid manure generated at GSD.

In an earlier round of cases, the courts held that the Wysocki’s building permit application for seven dairy buildings was valid because the application was filed before the Town completed its zoning ordinance.  In the current case, Wysocki argued that building permits for seven buildings automatically allowed Golden Sands Dairy the right to land-apply manure to 4,660 acres throughout the Town and away from the building site. That was rejected by the Court of Appeals which noted that the Wisconsin vested rights law has not applied to parcels separate from the parcels for which the building permit was issued.

“We hope this decision will facilitate a resolution of this on-going dispute,” said Attorney Paul Kent, representing the Town with respect to other issues associated with GSD.

#

Wisconsin Citizens Win Major Battle Against Massive CAFO, Fight Continues

Citizens groups in Wood County Wisconsin and
surrounding region oppose CAFOs and aerial
liquid manure spraying. 
Photo by Martha Karris of
Rome and Saratoga-Friendly
in Wisconsin (Faceboook)

In a major legal victory for citizens opposing a proposed massive factory farm in central Wisconsin, a state appellate court ruled that over 6,000 acres of land may not used as a massive cow manure dumping ground by the Wysocki Family of Companies, a known polluter of rural Wisconsin communities.

The ruling is a defeat for State Rep. Scott Krug, (R-Nekoosa), and other political supporters of the planned operation that would produce over 50 million gallons of liquid waste per year to be spread on fields near homes and communities, imperiling the region's economy and forcing many household to move out of multi-generational homes.

The case is 2015AP001258, Golden Sands Dairy LLC v. Town of Saratoga, (Wisconsin Court System).

The 15-page opinion was issued by appellate Judges Lundsten, Higginbotham and Blanchard.

Writes Karen Madden in Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune:

Under the new ruling, the company will have the right to proceed with construction on 10 buildings for the cows, feed and other dairy operations, said Paul Kent, town of Saratoga attorney. The court decision blocks Wysocki from planting crops or spreading manure on the land. The potential impact on water from manure spreading from approximately 4,000 cows and watering more than 6,000 acres of crops is the town's primary concern.

Rhonda Carrell, a Saratoga resident and member of Protect Wood County and its Neighbors, the grassroots group that has fought against the dairy, said she was awake most of Wednesday night in anticipation of the decision being released Thursday morning. She said the decision puts Saratoga in a much stronger position to fight the proposed dairy and protect the community's water.

'What wonderful news,' Carrell said. 'We always had hoped for a good outcome in the courts.'

Central Wisconsin residents and communities are walking a fine line as they promote the region for tourism and recreation, and at the same time fight what would be a heavily polluting Wysocki CAFO proposed in 2012.

Today's legal victory marks nearly the fifth year citizens have stopped the operation of the Wysocki CAFO.

Chicago Tribune Blockbuster on CAFOs—Unlivable, Cruel and Sociopathic

Thousands of northern Wisconsin residents are working to stop
operation of a pig CAFO that would devastate a pristine region
bordering Lake Superior and pristine lands
Image: Citizens Concerned about Lake Superior CAFOs

Update: "Nobody hangs their clothes out or keep their windows open," said Annette Harl.
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From David Jackson and staff in the Chicago Tribune today:

Hundreds of large hog facilities have been constructed across Illinois in recent years, using a factory-like system to grow thousands of pigs and put inexpensive bacon on your plate.

But a Tribune investigation finds all that cheap meat is coming at great cost to rural communities.

Sickening odors imprison people in their homes. Vast lagoons of manure leak into streams and ponds, killing fish. And weak Illinois laws put few restrictions on pork producers who want to build and expand.
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Jackson's work should earn his team a Pulitzer as this wide-ranging investigation gives hope to millions of residents who face fleeing multi-generational homes after Big Ag comes near their communities.

If media covers this tragedy, then Big Ag will face massive resistance and near-unanimous opposition.

Wisconsin Manure Spill Brings Water Contamination Warnings in Beautiful Region

Calumet County in Wisconsin is on the eastern shore of the huge inland lake, Winnebago.

As recently as the 1970s-80s, swimmers in the summer could hug the lake shore from Fond du Lac and swim north some 10 miles to the Columbia Park observation tower to meet friends, and if she were young and had not consumed too many beers, head north to Calumet County

Beautiful area. County and state parks and campsites dot the lake, a little to the south lies the awe-inspiring Kettle Moraine region.

Summer news reports the latest injection of 10,000s of gallons of liquid cow manure into Lake Winnebago has resulted in water contamination warnings.

Observers may ask why the water poisoners, industrial agricultural operations, are allowed to toxify the waters, (WLUK-TV, Wisconsin Public Radio), and why contamination is now a frequent occurrence in Wisconsin surface and ground waters.

Why would some ass do this and why isn't water protection a top priority in Wisconsin?

Because the poisoner, named Gordon Speirs—president of the Dairy Business Association and owner of the industrialized Shiloh Dairy LLC CAFO in Calumet County in the city of Brillion, Wisconsin—and industrialized agriculture make big money, and not polluting would be a cost to them.

Speirs and his ilk do not care about the costs to the waters that they treat like sewers in which they dump their untreated cow manure.

Protection of clean water falls to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Wisconsin Department of Justice. Both agencies are now Republican operations funded ultimately by Republican donors who will not tolerate state and country efforts to protect safe and clean water.

As Big Ag has taken over the state with the toxic CAFO business model, areas such as east-central Wisconsin take a big hit.

These are costs Big Ag is willing to see the people of Wisconsin pay for the profits of Big Ag.

Big Ag has purchased the Wisconsin governor, the Wisconsin attorney general, Wisconsin Republican legislators, and many county governments in this largely rural state.

As Wisconsin lakes, streams and aquifers are contaminated each year by industrial CAFOs, many people will leave the state, fleeing what is becoming a colony for corporations protected by Republicans.

Young friends and lovers will have to find other ways than swimming of meeting in the Wisconsin summers.

Pollution of water is bad and getting worse, and polluters across Wisconsin are more brazen in how they tell clean water advocates to get lost.

A large summit addressing water polluters is planned for September in Green Bay.

In Kewaunee County Wisconsin, northeast of Lake Winnebago, the chair of the Kewaunee County Land and Water Conservation Committee is a polluter and member of the Dairy Business Association (DBA), who uses his country committee chairmanship to protect other DBA polluters.

From the Green Press Gazette:

Pagel promises obstruction

Claiming that significant “momentum” is underway by farmers in Kewaunee County and defining that as the “right direction” to be finding a balance between clean water, public health and industrial dairy financial profit, while addressing known groundwater pollution in Kewaunee County, John Pagel, the county’s largest liquid manure producer and chair of the Kewaunee County Land and Water Conservation Committee, declared his personal inflexibility on the issue of groundwater pollution regulation with a public accusation that forces are trying to stymie that “momentum,” when he finished his sentence with, “there are some people that are trying to take that away from us, but I’m not going to let them.”

Pagel then insinuated the existence of a near insolvable rift in the Groundwater Work Group membership by literally pointing to the members sitting on either end of the tables, and to their needing to begin working together, and that they hadn’t been doing so thus far when he repeatedly insisted the sooner cooperation ensued, the better. That statement seemed exceptionally hypocritical coming from the work group member who just declared his intended obstruction to recommendations being reported from the Groundwater Work Group.

Mr Pagel went on to employ what easily fits the definition of the proverbial “victim” card, claiming that the factions needed to begin to work together, “… without accusations and insulting and so on and so forth …” Ask yourself, who appears to be making accusations and who appears to be issuing actual insults? Perhaps another definition, “psychological projection,” should be recommended research for those who don’t know of it.

The unmistakable initial value of the public meeting and presentation of the June 2016 Groundwater Work Group Report for Kewaunee County, to me, seems quite obvious. A self-declared obstructionist to the reported direction for addressing groundwater pollution, which may not fit one person’s interests or views as to the “proper” direction to pursue, currently chairs the county committee which is tasked with bringing resolutions for those pollutant solutions officially before the Kewaunee County Board of Supervisors for further action.

The sentiment from those people attending, overwhelmingly appeared to be, let us finally begin to implement the solutions being presented and a call for immediate action. Despite their county corporation counsel’s opinion about what constitutes a legal conflict of interest, the removal and replacement of a county supervisor from an initially appointed committee chair position, to the best of my understanding, does not require that high of a legal bar to begin that said removal action. My understanding is that any committee chairperson serves solely at the pleasure of the county board chair.

Donald Freix
Fish Creek

DNR Story Shows Wisconsin State Journal at Deceitful Worst

Wisconsin DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp is featured in a propaganda piece this morning on the front page of the Wisconsin State Journal.

The writer is Steven Verburg; the writing (and presumably the editing) highlights a major reason our household no longer subscribes to Wisconsin's second largest daily.

The 2,500-word piece is the worst type of trash the State Journal puts out, illustrating how badly the Republican propaganda sheet misleads readers and shills for their favored political interests.


Online the headline reads: As DNR woes grow, former critic says she's its best protector.

That's a misleading headline.

The headline cites "woes" (caused by what or whom?) as though the DNR has passively experienced some unknown malady caused by unknown agents. In reality, Scott Walker and the Wisconsin Republicans have worked to change the mission and operation of the DNR with Stepp on the front lines.

The headline shields Stepp in the cloak of DNR "critic" and "protector."

In the lede paragraph Verburg recites a story explaining Stepp's reluctant steps before being appointed by Scott Walker to the DNR secretary position in 2011.

The fact-based world is something different.

Scott Walker, Attorney General Bard Schimel, legislative Republicans and Stepp have devastated the resource protection and planning objectives of the agency, (most of what the DNR does is planning and soliciting input from stakeholders), and rebuilt the DNR as a tool for polluters.

Here's Verberg on Stepp:

She fought to streamline environmental regulations, earned a 'zero' rating from conservationists, gathered testimony about overzealous DNR employees, and authored a bill to criminalize state worker 'retaliation' against companies seeking pollution permits.

Frustrated by the slow pace of change, Stepp left the Senate when her four-year term ended. She worked for Republican causes until 2011 when the party took control of state government, and Gov. Scott Walker appointed her as the DNR’s top administrator.

Here I was thinking Republicans like Stepp were fronting for polluters like Menard's and other heavy donors to Walker and other Republicans.

No, Verburg assures, Stepp fought for streamlining, against the overzealous and the retaliatory.

Wow, Stepp is good.

Elsewhere, Verburg presents the DNR's Stepp as merely a passive regulator working to find common ground against Republican legislators:

'We have made terrific inroads with some the toughest critics in the Legislature against this agency who have a very skewed perception of who makes up this agency,' Stepp said.

The agency must be apolitical publicly, deferring to elected officials, Stepp said. As DNR secretary she said she has no opinion on whether environmental regulations are excessive or inadequate. The DNR’s job is to put the law into practice, she said.

Stepp is just an objective good-heated public servant; she said so herself.

Of course Stepp's opinions are easy to find. Notes Kewaunee Cares (Facebook):

She doesn't have an opinion? Stepp offered her commentary on our health and water crisis in the [heavily polluted] Kewaunee [County] through an Op-Ed piece in the Green Bay Gazette, marginalizing our problems.

Stepp writes, "The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has been working for more than a year with multiple stakeholder groups to address water quality issues in and around Kewaunee County. That work is not over but based on our discussions so far, we have been able to take action on several fronts."

"The department believes in making decisions and finding solutions based on sound science and so we commissioned scientific research to gather data about the quality of wells in Kewaunee County."

That's a lot of rhetoric to begin a piece on an issue about which Stepp has no opinion.

Of course, pointing this out would require the State Journal's Verburg to dig all the way back to ... May 2016. That kind of in-depth journalism apparently is beyond the means of the WSJ.

Targeting a Wisconsin Region

Industrialized Agriculture are some sick SOBs.

Rhonda Cain-Carrell (Facebook) reports from central Wisconsin, under assault as Big Ag moves to literally drive people out of their homes with political backing from all Wisconsin Republicans with no dissent.

A massive liquid manure truck in central Wisconsin, making one of 100s
of trips as the the Wysocki corporation attempts to drive multi-generational
families out of their homes. The truck which transport massive amounts of
liquid manure drives by signs reading: Clean Water, Clean Air,
Wisconsin DNR, Please Care, (Protect Wood County and Its Neighbors).
Photo by Rhonda Cain-Carrell.

Big Ag Dumps on Wisconsin

Industrialized agriculture is self-consciously destroying entire regions of the state, and trying to chase citizens out of their own communities.

The assault was captured in central Wisconsin last week by Rhonda Cain-Carrell.

As awful as this shot is, the reality of what Big Ag is doing to Wisconsin
is much worse. It took approx. 2.5 minutes to dump the liquid manure
waste contents of a tanker in Portage County, Town of Grant, next to a
popular trout stream. Across the street is Saratoga, Wisconsin where the
Wysocki corporation wants to build a massive factory farm in Wood County.
Image by Rhonda Cain-Carrell

Republicans, Big Ag Inflict Nightmare onto Central Wisconsin

Liquid manure/waste trucks coming and going in a downpour.
This is the worst time to spread because of the risks to groundwater
and surface water. BUT ... the trucks just kept coming non-stop for 24 1/2
hours ... rain or shine at a stone's throw from the Ten Mile Creek trout stream
in central Wisconsin, days before Memorial Day weekend.
Image by Rhonda Cain-Carrell

Proposed Golden Sands Dairy, in Saratoga, Wood
County, Wisconsin will devastate an already
troubled region.

Happy Memorial Day

No time to take our eyes off what Scott Walker, Scott Krug, the Wysocki corporation and its collaborators are doing to central Wisconsin—a picturesque region of sand, dense pines, streams and lakes now dying before our eyes—under tons of liquid cow manure, high capacity wells sucking up ground and surface waters; political corruption, and apathy.

In the field on 80th Street (County Hwy. U in central Wisconsin) an injecting rig sits poised before the Memorial Day weekend just waiting for the manure trucks to start their relentless circling from two counties away (Juneau County, Town of Armenia) to pick up and deliver Wysocki/Sommers liquid manure to Portage County, Town of Grant via Saratoga, Wisconsin.

Nice way to honor the fallen, Big Ag.

Rhonda Cain-Carrell chronicled the carnage last week, taking pictures showing an effort by massive polluters to drive down property valuations and befoul the environment in an area service professionals acknowledge on background is already effectively red-lined.

One of the objectives of Wisconsin Republicans is to make Wisconsin so inhospitable and toxic that citizens objecting will leave the state.

"The Wysockies quietly buy up land, use it up, literally poison their neighbors, the hell with everyone else. These people do not live on the CAFOs; they live far-away. And, yes, there is something sociopathic about this."
—Saratoga, Wisconsin resident

No time to ask, but what is wrong with these people?

Corrupt Republican government will wait until ground and surface waters are so befouled and depleted that safe drinking water in central Wisconsin is no longer feasible, and then deflect all accountability.

Shots below at bottom.

By Rhonda Cain-Carrell

The Ten Mile Creek is a beautiful trout stream that starts in Portage County, Town of Grant, Wisconsin and runs through the Town of Saratoga in Wood County. On the Portage County side, the Ten Mile has much less flow because of heavy pumping of high capacity wells for agriculture, picking up flow the further west it travels through wooded, unirrigated land of Saratoga.

In Jan. 2015, a man from Adams County named Scott Kotlowski applied for two high capacity wells for irrigated agriculture on two Managed Forest Land parcels just east of the Wood County, Town of Saratoga in Portage County, Town of Grant. I very suspiciously watched these parcels, as they are adjacent to our beloved Ten Mile Creek and were taken out of Wysocki's original footprint of the proposed Golden Sands Dairy CAFO.

I knew Kotlowski was a straw buyer and applier for Wysocki. The DNR assured us these wells would not be considered/approved until after the Wysocki project was sorted through and done. In Feb. 2016, Kotlowski applied for another high capacity well permit for a large parcel that borders State Hwy. 73 and County Hwy. U (80th St.) that he had bought. This parcel was also part of Wysocki's original footprint for the proposed crap factory they want to site in Saratoga.

THEN the horrible legislation pertaining to high cap wells begins. Transfers of well permits, rapid approvals, rubber stamping, deregulation of protections for water, wetlands and doing away with public rights stages for waters of the state. When some of the garbage did not pass, they went to the AG for his bought-and paid-for opinion on cumulative impacts not needing to be observed, (Verburg, Wisconsin State Journal). What the hell?! The level of corruption!!!!

The Ten Mile Creek runs through this section where Kotlowski's wells have been applied for. In these same fields, on Thursday, May 19th, Wysocki Produce Company trucks started hauling solid manure for two days straight. On Tuesday, May 24, 21 liquid manure trucks carrying the liquid waste/manure from Central Sands Dairy to the Kotlowski field on 90th Street between Tower Road and Oak Street.

It rained so many times before, during and after this process ... literally gully-washers, (an extremely heavy fall of rain usually of short duration), ... and they still kept hauling and injecting. Approximately 490 liquid manure trucks carrying 7,000-8,000 gallons of liquid manure to one little 73 acre field ... a stone's throw from our beloved trout stream, the Ten Mile Creek. This was after two days worth of solid manure the previous week.

The part of this that you will love is that they trucked the massive amounts of waste two counties to dump it next to our creek and just across the Portage County line. They have many acres where this could have been disposed of very close to Central Sands Dairy, (Backer of Saratoga CAFO tied to tainted wells, (Anderson, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)), and thousands of acres that were not adjacent to Saratoga, a township with the second highest population density in all of Wood County and last ... but not least ... why right next to the Ten Mile Creek? What do you think the answer to this question is?

Saratoga has made it very clear industrialized agriculture and CAFOs are not sustainable in our sandy soil. Our groundwater is extremely susceptible to contamination under the best circumstances. In gully-washing rain ... wouldn't you be careful so close to our trout stream?

Pictures of Devastation in Central Wisconsin. All photos by Rhonda Cain-Carrell

Ten Mile Creek on Tower Road, east of Hwy. U (80th St.). —
Portage County, Town of Grant, Wisconsin
Image by Rhonda Cain-Carrell

A dozen liquid manure/waste trucks sitting in Ellis Industries field (90th Street)
adjacent to Kotlowski field (Wysocki may have bought from Kotlowski, who purchased
the land after Wysocki pulled it from the original proposed Golden Sands Dairy plan).
The others sit at the Central Sands Dairy in Juneau County, Town
of Armenia ... two counties away. Notice the ponding? Liquid cow manure.
A stone's throw from Ten Mile Creek, a trout stream.
Image by Rhonda Cain-Carrell

Ponding. Too much liquid manure and rain.
— at Portage County, Town of Grant, Wisconsin
Image by Rhonda Cain-Carrell

Liquid manure/waste trucks coming and going in a downpour. This is the worst
time to spread because of the risks to groundwater and surface water.
BUT ... the trucks just kept coming non-stop for 24 1/2 hours ... rain or shine.
— at A stone's throw from the Ten Mile Creek. This hazardous waste, the
trucks are carrying, make no mistake.
Image by Rhonda Cain-Carrell

It took approx. 2.5 minutes to dump the liquid manure waste contents of a tanker.
— at Portage County, Town of Grant. Across the street from Saratoga.
Image by Rhonda Cain-Carrell

Risk of runoff HIGH for much of Wisconsin that day and they were spreading
in the rain.
Image by Rhonda Cain-Carrell

A, center pivot pump, chemical tank and power box in the
Ellis-Wysocki field with new center pivot rig in background.
Why would 2 systems the same age look SO different?
— at Across the road from Saratoga in Portage County.
Image by Rhonda Cain-Carrell

In the field on 80th Street (County Hwy. U) the injecting rig sits
poised before the holiday Memorial Day weekend just waiting for the manure
trucks to start their relentless circling from two counties away
(Juneau County, Town of Armenia)
to pick up and deliver Wysocki-Sommers liquid manure to Portage County,
Town of Grant  via Saratoga.
Notice the draglines? —
Pic taken from Oak Street.
Image by Rhonda Cain-Carrell

New center pivot irrigation rig in a field in which Scott Kotlowski, of Adams County,
applied for the high capacity well permit. This parcel and the one on
90th Street were part of Wysocki's proposed Golden Sands Dairy
project that asked for 40 hi cap wells. He scaled back to 33 wells and
Kotlowski bought the property and did the same thing
Wysocki had planned on doing.
Image by Rhonda Cain-Carrell

90th Street is the field Scott Kotlowski applied for one of the two high capacity
wells in this section. Until last year, this was Managed Forest Land.
Portage County, Town of Grant, Wisconsin.
Image by Rhonda Cain-Carrell

Report: Wisconsin Public Health Water Crisis Abetted by Republicans

Wisconsin Republicans are some sick bastards to abet poisoning children such as the Treml family in Kewaunee County in northeastern Wisconsin.

Ron Seely has the story at WisconsinWatch.

Seely reports the Treml family moved away from Kewaunee County after their then baby girl was hospitalized following taking a bath in water poisoned by a local industrialized dairy operation or CAFO.

Poisoners such as CAFO owner John Pagel have the political support of Scott Walker and State Rep. Joel Kitchen (R-Sturgeon Bay) who with fellow Republicans blocked groundwater protection legislation proposed last year by State Rep. Eric Genrich (D-Green Bay) and State Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay).

In central Wisconsin, another hot spot for CAFO poisoners, State Rep. Scott Krug (R-Nekoosa) runs political interference for the local poisoners in his district.

Wisconsin Town Advocates for Water

Saratoga, Wisconsin

A central Wisconsin town, Saratoga, is a beautiful place to call home.

Now, multi-generational residents (and neighboring communities) are galvanized in protecting their homes, and their children, against the encroachment of a proposed, massive industrialized (and polluting) CAFO or Concentrated (Confined) Agricultural Feeding Operation.

Sp perverse has become the Walker administration's abandonment of clean water protection, the town of Saratoga is producing videos reminding politicians fresh, clean water is imperative for life.

This writer has lived in Wisconsin for some 50 years, and I can tell you something is qualitatively wrong and sick with Scott Walker and the Republicans who follow along.

But I can tell you something is right with the town of Saratoga.

Water Crisis Isn't Looming, It's Here

Note: Our friends in Wood and Adams counties are reminding us what's at stake, (Anderson, Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune): Jan 16; 1 p.m. Saturday with the Rome Town Board to discuss the possible implications of the proposed Golden Sands industrial farm. Rome, located in Adams County, is adjacent to Saratoga.
---
Thanks to our friend Charles P. Pierce at Esquire.

Big Ag is, in an act of lunacy unhinged even for these scoiopaths, working with Republicans at the state and national level to eviscerate the Clean Water Act.

Writes Pierce:

The commodification of something as fundamental to human survival as water already has begun. It's tied into climate change. It is the battle of the next 100 years and, unlike the oil wars, you can always decide not to drive a car or use gasoline. You can't decide not to drink any water.

Notes Pierce in his lede:

It has long been the opinion here at the shebeen that we are dooming ourselves to nearly endless political, cultural, and perhaps literal fistfights over water over the next several decades. We're seeing a particularly grotesque example of this underway in Flint, Michigan, at the moment. (Most recently, Governor Rick 'Accessory Before The Fact' Snyder has called out the National Guard to help hand out bottled water and other supplies. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the need for possible 'pacification' duties if the residents of Flint finally get completely fed up with being poisoned.) But there are things happening in the Congress as well. 

In Wisconsin, Scott Walker has already handed over clean water to the polluters. Time for Wisconsin's sleepy rural municipalities to wake up, and protect their water ... by any means necessary.

Citizens Fete Win in Stripping Controversial 'Vested Rights' Initiative

Citizens groups in Wood County Wisconsin and
surrounding region oppose CAFOs and aerial
liquid manure spraying. Photo by Martha Karris of
Rome and Saratoga-Friendly in Wisconsin
(Facebook)

Citizens fighting an industrialized conglomerate's agricultural factory before it begins operation scored a success yesterday at the Wisconsin state capitol in Madison.

In Adams, Wood and surrounding counties in central Wisconsin, residents have been fighting a proposed CAFO or Concentrated (Confined) Agricultural Operation centered in the town of Saratoga.

Earlier this week, residents tracked down to the capitol to be heard on their objections to the "vested rights" language in two piece of legislation, Senate Bill 464 and Assembly Bill 582.

The vested rights provision would strip away local control in an unprecedented manner in Wisconsin.

They claim success, noting the vested rights provisions has been stripped out of legislation.

Writes Wisconsin State Sen. Kathleen Vinehout (D-Alma), often mentioned as a possible 2018 gubernatorial candidate:

In a bill, introduced just before Christmas ... the simple action of applying for a driveway permit or a state culvert permit could 'freeze in place' any local ordinance or state law.

For example, on the date a person applies for a driveway permit and discloses a proposed project, the ordinances and rules of all levels of local and state government could be frozen in place on that date provided the driveway is constructed within a stated deadline — even though some aspects of the project may not be completed for many years. (Winona Daily News)

Vinehout notes the pollution, health and property valuations hits that would follow passage of the proposed diminution of local control: "When does your neighbor’s property right limit your own rights? What if your neighbor built a fireworks factory next door? How about a large hog operation? Or an industrial sand mine?

Notes Criste Sullivan-Greening of Protect Wood County and Its Neighbors: "Hearing on AB 582 was today. Rep. Jarchow [(R-Balsam Lake] informed the committee that the ENTIRE vested rights provision has been removed from the bill. Great news for Saratoga and for citizens and municipalities across Wisconsin. Mark one in the WIN category for the little people!"

Reports Don Ystad of Nekoosa in Wood County:

Friends and neighbors,

Here's what happens when you take the time to state your case with your politicians. 8 people from Rome and Saratoga sat for 8 hours on Tuesday at a Senate public hearing in Madison to express our concerns with the "vested rights" and retroactive provisions of a very bad land use bill. People showed up again yesterday to contest the Assembly version of the bill. These bills could have made the proposed CAFO in Saratoga a "slam dunk" had no one contested it. As a result, we are back on an even playing field where that CAFO is concerned.

So, it demonstrates the need for us to be aware and be involved to protect our community. These are not the only poisonous bills out there. In fact, the year started with 7 environment threatening bills in the first week of the year. While you may not have the time or desire to sit at a hearing all day, you may find time to communicate your concerns through e-mail, letters or phone calls. That's becoming more and more important as we hear the DNR's Environmental Impact Statement may be released in the next month or so.  It's time to exercise that "court of public opinion".

For my fellow Rome property owners, your opportunity to be better informed about the proposed CAFO is at the Rome town hall on Saturday, January 16th at 1:00 PM where a meeting supported by your Rome town board and TriLakes will separate rumor from reality.  You'll hear factual information from Dr George Kraft of UWSP, our Assemblyman Scott Krug, and a DNR representative, among others. And, it will help you to know what you can do to help keep this CAFO out of our area.

Proposed Industrialized Farm Kills $300,000 Home Sale in Wood County

The proposed "Golden Sands" factory farm in the town of Saratoga killed the sale of a beautiful $300,000 home, a Saratoga resident reported this weekend.

Rhonda Cain-Carrell is long-time resident of Wood County and with many of her neighbors is an opponent of the proposed CAFO (Concentrated (Confined) Agricultural Feeding Operations) sited in the town of Saratoga.

Residents fear what scientific research has demonstrated: The some 50 million gallons of liquid cow manure sprayed and leeched into the environment each year would pollute the region, drive down property values, and present dangerous health hazards to residents, especially children, folks with compromised immune systems and the elderly.

Writes Cain-Carrell in her Facebook page:

This evening I spoke with a Saratoga resident that has their home up for sale. Shortly after listing the home, they received a full price offer. They accepted. The realtor disclosed a little info on the CAFO to the buyer from Illinois and [their] family backed out. Every perspective buyer LOVES the home and feels its 300K + price tag is a fair price ... BUT HAVE NO INTEREST IN LIVING NEAR THE PROPOSED GOLDEN SANDS DAIRY. Wysocki Companies, you have no right to hold our community hostage!!! GO AWAY & STAY AWAY.

Cain-Carrell, along with neighbors from Protect Wood County and Its Neighbors, Friends of the Central Sands, and Rome and Saratoga Friendly and other allies, have opposed the proposed CAFO since it was sprung onto residents in July 2012 (Mal Contends).

Informed residents say area realtors and financiers regard the area around the CAFO as a red line, and the killed sale of the residential home is just the beginning of a downward spiral.

The owner of the proposed CAFO is the Wysocki Family of Companies, (through two LLCs which insulate Wysocki from liability of the expected pollution and contamination if the factory farm were to begin operation).

Wysocki owns another CAFO, contaminating water in adjacent Juneau County (Anderson, Gannett Co News) (Mal Contends).

Wysocki doesn't live on the CAFO factory farms he owns, he's lives safely away in Custer, Wisconsin and runs operations some 20 miles away in Bancroft, Wisconsin so it's no skin off Wysocki's back if he economically and ecologically kills a region trying to make a come-back with tourism and recreation.

Wysocki is also infamous in the area for his profuse use of high capacity water wells, another 39 of which would take at least 100,000 gallons of water per well, per day to produce the liquid cow manure he wants to spray into Saratoga and the surrounding area (Mal Contends) (Mal Contends).

Wysocki is politically protected by local State Rep. Scott Krug (R-Nekoosa), Scott Walker and Walker's new polluter-friendly Dept of Natural Resources.

Krug is sponsoring a bill, Senate Bil 291, to help Wyscoki and other Big Ag operations suck up groundwater through high capacity wells and is attempting to neuter the legal recourse of Wisconsin residents and municipalities to object (Janesville Gazette) as Wisconsin Republicans play legislative games with the Wisconsin peoples' lives.