Small Farmer, Clean Water Champ on Christianity and Sustainability

No CAFOs

As people like John Ikerd, George Kraft and Rhonda Cain-Carrell fight for the family farmer, clean water, and sustainable and clean agriculture one has to wonder who could possibly be against their commitments.

Some thoughts by John Ikerd are below:

By John Ikerd

I am a Christian. So I celebrate Christmas, the birth of Jesus, as the seminal event of my holiday season. I respect the rights of others to hold beliefs different from mine– religious or otherwise. I have deepest respect for those who consistently give priority to the principles that are common to all of the major religions and enduring philosophies. Conflicts among believers invariably arise from the doctrine, dogma, and rituals that distinguish religions and philosophies rather than the principles that define human decency and goodness.

I am occasionally told that I speak like a preacher or an evangelist for sustainability. I take such remarks as compliments. In a sense, sustainability has become my religion. I was “raised in church,” as they used say about kids in churchgoing families. I attended church off and on over the years, mostly when I “raised my kids in church.” I gave up on organized religion when my religion began to interfere with my spirituality. This was about the same time as I began to understand and eventually became committed to the principles of sustainability.

I have found the principles of sustainability to be completely consistent with the core principles of virtually every major religion and enduring philosophy in the world. For example, Jesus said all of the laws of the prophets depended on two commandments.  First, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” And, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22: 37-39). The second, the Golden Rule, is a core principle of all major religions and enduring philosophies.

Sustainability is the ability to meet the needs of the present without compromising opportunities for the future. The needs of the present include the needs of “all” – not necessarily everything everyone wants but everything everyone actually needs. The first requisite for sustainability is simply the Golden Rule – to do for others as we would have them do for us, if we were in their situation and they were in ours. The second requisite for sustainability simply extends the Golden Rule across generations. It requires that we do for those of future generations as we would have them do for us if we were of their generation and they were of ours.

Regarding the first commandment, sustainability is rooted in a belief in some higher order, ultimate reality, or God from which the purpose of human life on earth is derived. Purpose cannot be proven through modern science; it must be accepted as a matter of faith. If there is no higher order, there is no purpose for humanity on earth, and therefore, no rational reason to be concerned about its sustainability. Sustainability is also rooted in love – in the belief the inherent goodness — of God, humanity, and the whole of creation. If the purpose of humanity is not good but evil, the earth would be better off without us. Souls gives purpose to hearts which emerge as intentions minds which guide the actions of bodies. When we act in ways the meet the needs of all of the present without diminishing opportunities for future we are expressing our love of God with all our souls, hearts, and minds.

“He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly” (paraphrasing John 10:10). This verse keeps running through my mind this Christmas, at a time when so many people in the U.S. seem desperate for fundamental change – for something more out of life. In this so-called Christian nation, there seems little hope for realizing the opportunity for abundance that was promised by the coming of Jesus. Perhaps we need to see abundance within the context of timeless religious and philosophical principles rather than contemporary economic dogma.

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said: “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you” (Luke 37-38). Michelangelo put it simply, “As you give, so shall you receive.”  We judge and thus are judged, we condemn and thus are condemned, we refuse to forgive and thus are unforgiven, we take rather than give and thus are taken from. We are simply receiving in relation to what we are given – in good measure pressed down, shaken together, and put in our laps. The same measures we use to judge, condemn, deny forgiveness, and take away from others are “measured back to us.”

The timeless principles of human well-being tell us that abundance is not just about jobs, income, or wealth. True abundance comes from faith, hope, love, peace – from positive human intentions and relationships guided by a belief in the possibility of a life of purpose and meaning. Even our classic Christmas stories, such as Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol with Ebenezer Scrooge, convey the futility of seeking abundance through taking and hoarding rather than giving and sharing.  When we are willing to sacrifice the principles of honesty, fairness, responsibility, compassion, and respect for the sake of jobs, income, wealth, prestige, or power, we are given unemployment, poverty, hatred, and helplessness in return – in full good measure, pressed down. “As you give, so shall you receive.”

We are a deeply divided nation – perhaps more divided than at any time since the Civil War. As Lincoln said at that time, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” We are as divided on the issue of sustainability as we are on many other matters.  Some see it as a national or global conspiracy to deprive them of economic opportunities. Others see it is a necessary sacrifice to keep the planet livable for humanity. Too few seem to see it as an opportunity for a more abundant life, a new reason to respect, to trust, to forgive, and to give. A commitment to sustainability gives us a logical reason to do for others as we would have them do for us, including those of future generations. The wisdom of the ages tell us that only by loving others as ourselves will we be accepted, respected, trusted, forgiven, and receive the abundance of life in return – in good measure, shaken down.

I do not write these things as one who has accomplished the mission of sustainable living but as one who is continually striving and frequently failing. That said, I feel a sense of contentment in the core of my being because I am confident in my purpose. I am confident the mission of sustainability is completely consistent the message of Christmas and the wisdom of the ages that guides us toward the positive possibilities of abundant living.

Wood County Wisconsin Polluters' Lobby Working Against Citizens

Town of Saratoga, Wisconsin fights factory farm
in central Wisconsin

Secrecy and Corruption Define Wood County Republicans Protecting Ag Polluters

Violations of the Wisconsin Open Meeting and Open Records law mark Wood County Board (Wisconsin) Chair Lance Pliml and his polluters' lobby working against the families of Wood County.

Wood County clean-water advocates and the town government of Saratoga are working to stop a locally notorious polluter, the Wysocki corporation, from operating a massive, industrialized agricultural factory that would inject toxic liquid cow manure into central Wisconsin's environment, "producing as much [untreated] waste as a city with a population of 106,000 people every single day," (Protect Wood County and Its Neighbors).

Clean water advocates want protection of their drinking and surface waters.

No, says the polluters' lobby, many of whom are Republicans in Wood County county government.

Reports Jonathan Anderson in the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin this week:

Bolstering regulations against water contamination has proved once again to be a highly charged topic among members of the Wood County Board.

The board on Tuesday considered a draft ordinance aimed at penalizing people who contaminate ground and surface waters, partly in response to concerns about a proposed large-scale dairy in Saratoga.

But the measure did not pass and was instead referred to a committee for further consideration, drawing the ire of the legislation’s supporters.

Last year Lance Pliml and Republican allies objected to citizens attending a County Board meeting saying in part, "I think this is an attempt to put pressure on the committee for one point of view," (Madden, Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune), (Mal Contends), after Pliml publicly said he discouraged citizen attendance.

Democracy escapes Pliml. And it's against Wisconsin's Open Meetings law to actively discourage and impede attendance of lawful meetings.

Pro-clean water citizens enjoy popular support, but a Republican operation working with Pliml is fighting the will of citizens. This Republican polluters' lobby demands citizens not come to public meetings and refuses open record requests, in violation of Wisconsin Open Meeting and Open Records laws.

For the privilege of forbidding local democracy, declining property values and the Wysocki corporation's new "forty-nine high capacity wells, capable of drawing 7.3 billion gallons of water from the groundwater aquifer annually," the polluters' lobby is promising to turn central Wisconsin into an economic moonscape, (Protect Wood County and Its Neighbors).

Wysocki owns another CAFO, contaminating water in adjacent Juneau County, (Anderson, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin) (Mal Contends).

The Wysocki corporate family lives safely away in Custer, Wisconsin and runs operations some 20 miles north 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, (Mal Contends).

Wysocki is not part of the community, he's a parasite.

Criste Greening of Protect Wood County and Its Neighbors made an Open Records request to Wood County Board (Wisconsin) Chair Lance Pliml.

Greening was refused.

Pliml's Repulbican ally, Wood County Corporate Counsel Peter Kastenholz, advocates the dissolution of Wisconsin's Open Records law, (Anderson, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin).

Below is an edited reproduction of Greening's Open Records update sent to supporters this week:

Friends and Concerned Citizens,

Message 3 of 3

Where do I even begin to bring everyone up to speed on the Wood County Board/Chairman Pliml saga that has unfolded over the past month? I have attempted to form this email three times and each time my temper has gotten the best of me requiring yet another re-write.

As many of you are aware from previous emails shared, Wood County Board Chairman Lance Pliml was served a second (more specific) Open Records Request as a result of his ridiculous response to the first one.  If you missed that email feel free to get caught up HERE.

I have received a response to the second request.  In a nutshell, Chairman Pliml had Corporate Counsel Peter Kastenholz respond to my second Open Records Request stating that I had previously received all pertinent information and that Mr. Pliml was under no obligation to “Memorialize” conversations had with Attorneys regarding the [proposed] Operating Ordinance discussed.  Even though Mr. Pliml has shared publicly on two occasions that he would supply requested information, he now again refuses.

Mr. Pliml’s refusal to answer the simple question regarding who he had spoken to comes as no surprise to me or other members of our core group.  Many (including myself) have believed from the very beginning that Mr. Pliml had never truly discussed the [proposed] Operating Ordinance with anyone nor had he actually spoken to “some of the best Attorneys in the state”.  Mr Pliml’s initial response to the first Open Records Request lacked any documentation regarding the Operating Ordinance therefore proving clearly his lack of honesty and integrity.

One would think if Mr. Pliml, as an elected official, had really gone the extra mile for his constituents he would be more than willing to share the information gathered and willingly discuss conversations had.  Chairman Plim instead hides behind Corporate Counsel and refuses to share said information.  The reason is simple - he has nothing to share and never has.

I personally am done dealing with Chairman Pliml and need to stop myself here as I have nothing nice to say regarding his character, ethics, integrity, or professionalism.  I do ask that if you are as irritated as I am with this situation that you share your feelings freely with Chairman Pliml and the entire Wood County Board ... .

Thank you all for your continued support.

Criste Greening

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

Lake Michigan Shore-located Business and Home Redlined

Pictured is a traveling gun spray irrigating manure. In the practice
of spray irrigation of manure, aerosolized lagoon waste
is reduced into smaller particulate droplets,
which are easily ingested and inhaled by humans and animals.

Hopes of actually selling commercial and residential lakeshore property are 'zero percent'

The destruction wrought by industrialized agriculture is immense and growing, (WisconsinWatch, Door County Pulse).

By Robyn Mulhaney
Kewaunee County Wisconsin

This is a very personal issue for me. As a resident of Kewaunee County with a tourism-based business I am living the nightmare you are trying to stop [in central Wisconsin].

My business is 15-yrs.-old. At the time I built new construction along Lake Michigan, thinking this was my last business venture, there was one WPDES, [Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System], permit in our county, Pagel's Ponderosa [factory farm]. You all know the rest of the story here. Along with 9 other citizens, I stopped one CAFO 2 miles located 2 miles from my business from implementing irrigation of raw manure. I am thinking that will change after his permit is up and he will be permitted in four years.

I listed my home and business for sale during the last year. While no broker, appraiser or banker would come right out and say it, my commercial property values are 2/3 of CONSTRUCTION COSTS 15 years ago because of water quality. My home has 800 ft. of Lake Michigan frontage, a small cove that fills with heaps of algae during the warm months. We are dealing with health issues in our household and want to move out of the area as quickly as possible. My partner will be leaving next month and I am staying behind to dismantle our retail business, providing an empty space for events and weddings as there are 4 acres of cultivated gardens and a lily pond on the property, all established my us. Our local government has offered no support for our situation, basically told us to shut up or leave. My hopes of actually selling either property are at 0%.

My point is, by the time we recognized, or admitted, the changes to our landscape, it was too late. My outdoor inventory gets coated with a black soot each summer from the CAFO 2 miles west. The pollution travels winds from the west, hangs up in the humid lake air, creating a haze of pollution. We smell lagoon odors virtually everyday and we our customers ask/complain about the odors; the source is two miles away! Our business has sustained extensive and expensive vandalism over the last year. Our home has been vandalized and so have vehicles left in our parking lot. The sheriffs department is completely lacking in support. Not until the water kiosk was vandalized at the high school these last couple months have they taken issues of vandalism seriously from the citizens who have spoke out against pollution issues.

Something Stinks in Wisconsin

Aerosolized manure lagoon waste in Wisconsin -
Nothing to see here, says Big Ag. Science, Wisconsin
families and communities say differently

Local Democracies, Families and Communities Are Fighting Big Ag's Industrialized Manure Waste

Wisconsin has an entire political party, (the Republicans (and a few Democrats)), who act as shills for Big Ag's annual dumping of millions of tons of hazardous waste—bacterial, viral, and parasitic fecal pathogens—into Wisconsin waters and the entire biosphere to predictable tragic consequences, (Devlin, Green Bay Press Gazette; Lundstrom, Door County Pulse; Sustain Rural Wisconsin Network; Duhigg, New York Times; Clean Water Council of Northeast Wisconsin).

Assisting Big Ag in this project are the Koch brothers which acquired the paper giant Georgia-Pacific in 2005 (Arndt, BloombergBusiness), as corporate and institutional ownership of Wisconsin forests are displacing family-owned woodlands, (Schmid, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel), clear-cutting the way for more hazardous industrialized agriculture.

The map shows increase in annual mean
surface concentration of particulate matter
resulting from ammonia emissions associated with food export.
Populated states in the Northeast and Great Lakes region,
where particulate matter formation is promoted by
upwind ammonia sources, carry most of the cost.
Manure from livestock and fertilizer for crops
release ammonia to the atmosphere.
In the air, ammonia mixes with other emissions
to form microscopic airborne particles,
or particulates
Image: NASA AQAST/Harvard University

As Adams County in central Wisconsin works locally to protect forests (Anderson, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin), Big Ag and paper giants have cast their eyes on the land, with no regard for surrounding communities and families.

Lights are blinking red among Wisconsin clean water advocates.

"While (Big) ag interests suggest it may be unfair for the county to create forest zoning to cover the communities that have no zoning laws, they don't mention the 10,000 acres of forest clear cut in the past few years near the lakes and streams that support tourism. Adams County ranks #4 in per capita tourism. This proposed zoning is a move to protect the balance of tourism and agriculture, and it needs your support. For too long, we've sat idly by as agriculture interests do the land grab. If you value the nature of our county, please attend the hearing at the Adams County Community Center on March 23rd  at 7:00 PM. You can bet the CAFO operators in New Chester and Richfield, along with their DBA, (the polluters' lobby, the Dairy Business Association), ... will be there," said Don Ystad of Adams County in an email sent this weekend.

Meanwhile Farms Not Factories emails an alert the UW-Extension Spray Irrigation of Manure Workgroup "plans to release its findings very soon and although they've promised they would hold a public hearing and solicit public comments after they compiled their final draft report, they've decided NOT to do so."

Reads the Farms Not Factories email:

In addition, they are rushing to publish the final report. Workgroup members were given the final draft on March 12 and their comments were due by March 19. Keep in mind, the Workgroup convened in 2013 and the members spent many, many hours attending meetings/reading materials/sorting through the facts. Why were they given a week to review and comment on 3 years worth of work??

While Bayfield County banned aerial spraying on manure in early 2015, Ashland County (as well as a majority of counties in Wisconsin) have not banned this form of manure disposal. If I've learned anything in the past year, it's this: Bayfield and Ashland Counties share a watershed, a shoreline and a County border and what happens in Ashland doesn't necessarily stay in Ashland.

The Workgroup members need to hear from the citizens of Wisconsin immediately, please send an email ASAP. Please write them and tell them you expect the UW-Extension Spray Irrigation of Manure Workgroup to schedule a public hearing/allow public comment on their final draft report about this controversial manure disposal practice. Why are they rushing to finalize the report before the citizens have a chance to weigh in?

Template for your email to the Spray Irrigation of Manure Workgroup

Here are the names of the Workgroup members:
Ken Genskow, UW-Madison (chair/facilitator)
Becky Larson, UW-Madison
Carrie Laboski, UW-Madison
Mark Borchardt, USDA-Ag Research Service
Andrew Craig, Wisconsin DNR
Joe Baeten, Wisconsin DNR
Pat Murphy, NRCS
Steve Struss, Wisconsin DATCP
Rob Thiboldeaux, Wisconsin DHS
Suzanne Gibbons Burgener, Wisconsin DHS
Gloria Smedema, Fond du Lac County Public Health
Sarah Grosshuesch, Adams County Public Heath
Jeff Polenske, Agronomist
Jim Vandenbrook, Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Association (WLWCA)
Kenn Buelow, Dairy Farmer
Jeff Sommers, Dairy Farmer
Shelly Mayer, Dairy Farmer and Executive Director, Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin (PDPW)
Dana Cook, Professional Nutrient Applicators Association of Wisconsin (PNAAW)
Lynn Utesch

Copy and paste these email addresses of the workgroup:
kgenskow@wisc.edu, ralarson2@wisc.edu, laboski@wisc.edu, mark.borchardt@ars.usda.gov, Andrew.Craig@Wisconsin.gov, Joseph.Baeten@Wisconsin.gov, steve.struss@wisconsin.gov, Robert.thiboldeaux@dhs.wisconsin.gov, suzanne.gibbonsburgener@dhs.wisconsin.gov, sarah.grosshuesch@co.adams.wi.us, pat.murphy@wi.usda.gov, gloria.smedema@fdlco.wi.gov, Jeff@TilthAg.com, kennholsum@bugnet.net, jeff.sommers@rpespud.com, smayer@pdpw.org, danacook2000@gmail.com, lnutesch@yahoo.com, Kitty.rhoades@dhs.wisconsin.gov, Laurie.ross@wisconsin.gov

In the town of Saratoga in Wood County, the town is working against Republican-backed legislation that would "override local zoning and put the groundwater and thousands of acres of land in a single township at risk."

For some four years Saratoga residents have opposed the siting of a massive, polluting industrialized CAFO or Concentrated (Confined) Agricultural Operation by the Wysocki corporation.

When the Wysocki corporation officials did a PR gig on July 19, 2012 at a special Saratoga Town Board meeting drawing 100s of people, the local Wisconsin state representative, Scott Krug (R-Nekoosa) told a Wood County resident to "quit your bitching," (Mal Contends).

Krug is scheduled to appear at a Door County water quality hearing on March 31 with another Repulbican, (Door County Daily News). One Door County resident emails, "No, this is not [from] the Onion, the Republican legislative threats to water quality are going to explain to people how to restore the Ahnapee River. This should be good!" 

From a Saratoga January 2016 release opposing Krug-supported legislation:

SARATOGA, Wis. [January 4, 2016] – A pristine aquifer and thousands of acres of pine forest in one rural Wisconsin township are at risk if a proposal before Senate and Assembly committees makes its way through the legislative process, confirmed Attorney Paul Kent representing the Town of Saratoga in Wood County. A public hearing on SB464 is slated for 11a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 5 in Senate Hearing Room 412E while AB582 comes before the Assembly Committee on Housing and Real Estate on Thursday, Jan. 7.

These bills include a provision that would retroactively apply an expanded concept of vested rights and in so doing limit a local government’s ability to protect the property rights and health of its residents, Kent said.

The Wysocki Family of Companies has proposed siting a 5,300-cow dairy facility in the Town of Saratoga. Known as Golden Sands Dairy, it would encompass almost 6,000 acres in the Town, some 4,660 of which is managed pine forest that would be clear-cut for vegetable production. “If the proposed vested rights language passes, the original Wysocki building permit for six buildings on 98 acres could apply to thousands of additional acres in the Town,” Kent said.

“These bills are being supported by the Wysocki Family of Companies to further its attempt to override the Town’s zoning ordinance and a pending Court of Appeals decision on the scope of that zoning ordinance,” Kent said. “Wysockis would like to sweep local zoning aside so that the only remaining review of the operation would be by the Department of Natural Resources.”

“The Town’s zoning was designed to protect the area’s fragile aquifer and sandy soils and was initiated in its 2007 comprehensive plan long before Golden Sands Dairy was proposed. The problem for the Town, Kent explained, is that this area, as designated by the U.S. Geological Survey, is highly susceptible to groundwater contamination, and more than 5,000 residents depend on the quality of that groundwater. The zoning was intended to protect public health and the property rights of those residents,” he explained.

The Wysocki proposal includes application of 55 million gallons of liquid manure and 25,000 tons of solid manure annually on the 4,660 acres for vegetable production. “Manure application to that extent on those 4,660 acres will compromise the soil and the groundwater in short order,” Kent said, “and threaten more than 500 residential wells in close proximity to those fields.”

These concerns are not hypothetical. In recent months, monitoring wells at Wysocki’s Central Sands Dairy, which is sited on similar soil and located just across the Wisconsin river from Saratoga, have demonstrated nitrate levels as high as 77 parts per million (ppm), or nearly eight times the drinking water standard of 10 ppm, Kent said.

While this change would directly impact the Town of Saratoga, passage of the vested rights language in AB582/SB464 could also severely limit the ability of towns and other local governments to regulate frac sand mining and other land uses throughout the state, he said.
###

About the Town of Saratoga

A township in Wood County, Wisconsin, Saratoga is home to 5,385 residents. It is situated in the southeast corner of the county, bordering Juneau and Adams counties and includes Ten Mile Creek, Ross Lake, a portion of Nepco Lake and Five Mile Creek.  Its predominate land uses are woodlands owned by private landholders, residential subdivisions, limited agriculture (cranberry bogs), commercial developments along highways 13 and 73 and open spaces. The Town is listed on the US Geological Survey map as an area highly susceptible to groundwater contamination. The main aquifer consists of glacial sands and gravels resting approximately 20 feet below the land surface.

Petition to Stop Proposed Factory Farm in Wood County Hits 1,000 Sigs in 30 Days

A paradise under assault with Republican Party political support,
the Golden Sands of Wisconsin, protected by a diverse, large
and growing group of citizens fighting polluters and their
own government.

Updated: DNR report delayed on Saratoga mega-farm, (Anderson, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

Not a lot of people in central Wisconsin.

The region is rural and isolated.

It's also scenic with a lot of lakes and streams.

An online petition to stop the Wysocki Golden Sands industrialized factory farm proposed for Saratoga, Wisconsin has now surpassed over 1,000 signatures in 30 days.

Even as the central Wisconsin communities promote the recreational and tourism potential of the region, (Mal Contends) (Mal Contends) (Mal Contends), Republicans want to literally drain private water wells and the area surface waters with a massive number of high-capacity water wells each drawing over 100,000 gallons per day.

Insanity.

But reasoning with polluters and an industry that poisons children is not an easy proposition.

As Don Ystad, retired business consultant, resident of Rome and opponent of the Wysocki CAFO proposal wrote in 2014.
---
Governor Walker,

Think about the recent reports of the E Coli poisoning of a visiting family in Door County just a few weeks ago and the negative effect on Door County tourism if this persists. The E Coli strain was tied to cow manure, not surprising since 30% of drinking water wells are unusable because of high nitrate levels in neighboring Kewaunee County where there are 15 dairy CAFOs. This is a dangerous trend for our tourism economy, not to mention the health and well being of our citizens and visitors. As a citizen of Rome facing the possibility of an 8,000 acre, 5,130 cow dairy CAFO right next door in Saratoga, I'm concerned for our future.

Central Wisconsin Citizens Begin Petition Opposing Massive Factory Farm

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

Citizens is central Wisconsin have begun a petition opposing a proposed massive CAFO or Concentrated (Confined) Agricultural Feeding Operation sited in the town of Saratoga in Wood County Wisconsin.

The Golden Sands Dairy is owned by the Wysocki Family of Companies (through two LLCs which insulate the Wysocki owners from liability from the expected pollution and contamination if the industrialized operations were to begin).

The Golden Sands Dairy is widely opposed and imperils a wold class golf resort in northern Adams county, property home valuations, and surface waters and acquirers in a four-county region looking for recreational and tourism investments.

Citizens have been opposing the proposed CAFO since plans were first announced in 2012.

Reports Chronicle Scott Walker-GOP Work for Wisconsin Water Polluters

"We have a choice about the kind of world we leave to
future generations.But unless we heed the warning signals,
there may be no historian to recall one day
that we failed to act in time."— Charles H. Stoddard

"Brought into right relationships with the wilderness, man
would see that his appropriation of Earth's resources
beyond his personal needs would only bring
imbalance and begat ultimate loss and poverty by all."
— John Muir

A three-part investigative series by Ryan Schuessler examines Scott Walker's politicization of the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR) and the scale of pollution of Wisconsin's fresh waters, noting specifically the DNR's protection of polluters, (Aljazeera-America).

Part one examines the politicization of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Part two looks at the effect high capacity wells are having on the state’s Central Sands region. Part three reports on the Kewaunee County water crisis in northeastern Wisconsin and the Kewaunee-Door county peninsula.

Schuessler's series comes as Ron Seely and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism begin publishing a series on the same crisis of Wisconsin water in an investigative series entitled Failure at the Faucet this week.

Following the trajectory Scott Walker has set Wisconsin on will result in nationwide questioning of the safety of Wisconsin's abundant fresh waters and threaten our flourishing tourism and recreation pursuits.

This is widely regarded by environmentalists as a betrayal of the legacies of Increase A. Lapham, John Muir, Aldo Leopold, Gaylord Nelson, Charles H. Stoddard and Sigurd F. Olson.

The biggest polluters imperiling Wisconsin's water is Big Ag and the industrialized factory farms known as CAFOs, (Concentrated (Confined) Agricultural Feeding Operations).

Lake Huron in north-central Wisconsin dried up from High
Capacity water wells in Waushara County
- Photo: Ryan Schuessler

The CAFO practice of massive and confined breeding of cows (and pigs) and vectoring the pathogen and toxin-laden manure into the environment has led to the toxification of both surface and groundwater.

Combined with the use of 1,000s of high capacity wells that suck up over 100,000 gallons of fresh water a day, streams, lakes and small water wells are drying up.

In the Central Sands region alone, Schuessler notes, "[i]n 1950 there were fewer than 100 high capacity wells in the Central Sands. Today there are more than 3,000, or nearly half of all those in the state."

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.

Nitrate Levels in Groundwater at Central Sands Dairy Exceed Safe Standard by Seven Times

The Central Sands Dairy in Juneau County Wisconsin is promoted as the state-of-the-art model for the proposed massive Golden Sands Dairy in Saratoga (Agri-View).

This frightens area residents in Wood and Adams County as a new report shows massive nitrate levels in area groundwater monitoring wells at Central Sands.

Both Central Sands and Golden Sands are owned by the Wysocki Family of Companies, whose corporate officers live safely off-site from the massive industrialized Central Sands Dairy site and Golden Sands sites.

The Central Sands Dairy news of groundwater contamination follows a decision from Gov. Scott Walker's new polluter-friendly Wisconsin Department of Natural Resource's (DNR).

The DNR decided last week to "to approve a water pollution permit for an industrial livestock operation expansion in Kewaunee County. The agency refused to uphold portions of an October 2014 Administrative Law Judge decision ordering the agency to use its authority under state law to limit the number of animals in the facility and to require a groundwater monitoring plan for pollution from manure landspreading. Petitioners in this case will review options for appeal," as noted by the Midwest Environmental Advocates.

Environmental groups asked the EPA to monitor wells in Kewaunee County last year.

Under Scott Walker's administration the Wisconsin DNR has become a rubber stamp for polluters, actually providing political and legal cover for polluters.

A press release by an attorney for the Town of Saratoga is reproduced below:

TOWN OF ARMENIA, JUNEAU COUNTY, Wis. [September 14, 2015]  -- Groundwater monitoring wells at Central Sands Dairy measured during three consecutive quarters in 2014 and 2015 demonstrate the presence of nitrates in the groundwater that are well above the state drinking water standard of 10 parts per million, according to the most recent report filed with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources by RJN Environmental Services. Central Sands monitoring well 4 (CSD4) now reports nitrates at 77 ppm, more than seven times the state standard. Nitrate levels have risen from 60 ppm to 77ppm in CSD4 in just nine months, according to the report, and other on-site monitoring wells also consistently demonstrate levels above the state standard.

CSD4 is located up-gradient of the manure lagoon, but down-gradient of fields on which liquid manure land application has occurred. This is significant, according to Attorney Paul Kent, representing the neighboring Town of Saratoga, “because it demonstrates significant nitrate contamination from the land-application of manure.”

The Wysocki Family of Companies, which owns and manages the Central Sands Dairy, is proposing to build a 5300-head dairy operation known as the Golden Sands Dairy on nearly 8,000 acres, most of which are in the Town of Saratoga.  The facility would generate 55 million gallons of liquid manure and 25,000 tons of solid manure annually.  Golden Sands is proposing to clear-cut nearly 4600 acres of managed pine forest in the Town and convert it to irrigated cropland onto which the manure would be applied, Kent said.  Like the land on which Central Sands Dairy resides in Armenia, the proposed Golden Sands Dairy would be sited on sandy soil that has been classified as ‘highly susceptible to groundwater contamination’ by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Kent said.

If approved, each year Golden Sands Dairy would land-apply 55 million gallons of liquid manure and 25,000 tons of solid manure on roughly one-quarter of the property in the Town, all of which lies within one-quarter mile of more than 400 homes. “A repeat of the Central Sands results in Saratoga would be devastating,” he said, “to private wells, public facilities, trout streams, businesses, recreational facilities and overall quality of life.”

It’s important to note, Kent added, that the Town and its citizens oppose neither agriculture nor dairying, as a rule. “The opposition is to this facility on this site, on this geology. An operation of this size and tenor has no place on land deemed ‘highly susceptible to groundwater contamination’ by the USGS.  “The well monitoring results from Central Sands Dairy in Armenia clearly demonstrate the problem with this kind of operation in on this kind of soil.”
#
                                                                                                                              
About Saratoga Township

A township in Wood County, Wisconsin, Saratoga is home to 5,385 residents. It is situated in the southeast corner of the county, bordering Juneau and Adams counties and includes Ten Mile Creek, Ross Lake, a portion of Nepco Lake and Five Mile Creek.  Its predominate land uses are woodlands owned by private landholders, residential subdivisions, limited agriculture (cranberry bogs), commercial developments along highways 13 & 73 and open spaces.

About the USGS

Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, the USGS serves the nation by providing reliable scientific information to describe and understand the earth; minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect quality of life.

As the Nation's largest water, earth and biological science and civilian mapping agency, the USGS collects, monitors, analyzes and provides scientific understanding about natural resource conditions, issues and problems.  The diversity of its scientific expertise enables large-scale, multi-disciplinary investigations and provides impartial scientific information to resource managers, planners and other customers.

Report: Backer of Saratoga CAFO Tied to Tainted Water Wells

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)

Jonathan Anderson of Gannett Co news is breaking an important story reporting the owner of a proposed 5,300-head, industrialized dairy farm in southern Wood County "is coming under fire after heavily contaminated groundwater was found at another farm owned by the same company."

Reports Anderson:

'We think it’s important that the public be aware that the concerns that we’re raising are not just theoretical,' said Madison attorney Paul Kent, who represents the town of Saratoga, where the proposed mega-farm would be located. The town is opposing the farm, Kent said, at least until the company can provide assurances that groundwater will not be adversely affected.

The owner 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).

The proposed massive CAFO (Concentrated (Confined) Agricultural Feeding Operation) is called the Golden Sands Dairy and is widely opposed, and threatens a wold class golf resort in northern Adams county in a region looking for recreational and tourism investments.

Scott Walker, and the Republican-led Wisconsin Department of Justice have "sidelined the DNR and now puts business uses of water above ordinary residential and recreational priorities, and these regulatory changes are being embedded in the law."

Scott Walker has been shameless is coordinating contributions from polluters who have shelled out massive campaign donations in return for "scaled back enforcement actions by the state Department of Natural Resources."

Notes Anderson, "The Wysocki Family of Companies did not respond to a request for comment as of press time."

Clean Water Activists Ramp-up Work in Hot Summer in Central Wisconsin

July-August is perfect for recreation and tourism in central Wisconsin, but the area's residents aren't laying back. They're accelerating efforts against a proposed massive industrial dairy farm, or CAFO, (Confined Agricultural Farming Operation) owned by mega-polluter, the Wysocki Family of Companies.

Even as Scott Walker paid off his donors against Wisconsin's interests—gutting protections for the environment and axing science-based deliberations in the Wisconsin Department of Natural Recourse—Wood and Adams county residents are hitting the airwaves and working to put up 100s of more anti-CAFO signs after systemic political vandalism and threats against residents reached a peak this spring.

"These good people are trying to protect their homes and existing lifestyle from this proposed CAFO that would surround their homes with the stink, dirt, noise and water quality issues that come with these huge industrialized farms. Any of us would do the same to protect our own property values, and in fact, those of us living in the surrounding area will be the worse for it if this CAFO is allowed to go through. The odors from the existing CAFO in Armenia can be smelled 11 miles away in Nekoosa. How far away are you from the proposed CAFO?," said Kathy Davis of the Town of Rome in northern Adams County. (Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune)

"The insertion of the [Wysocki] Golden Sands CAFO in Saratoga will negatively impact tourism which is one of the largest economic producers in the county. The county is also set to be home to a top of the line golf resort, Sand Valley, which will be a huge economic boost to the area in recreation and tourism. No project coordinator in their right mind though will build a world-renowned golf course next to a CAFO," writes Joshua Yelle, a native of the region.

On the one hand we see residents, almost universally against the proposed Wysocki CAFO, promoting the area's recreation and tourism attractions, including the under-construction, world-class Sand Valley golf resort (Mal Contends).

On the other hand is Wysocki's CAFO, which would toxify the region, and put up a huge sign for visitors as property values plummet: Stay away.