Impact of Toxic Drinking Water Is Clear; DoD Is Perpetual Offender

Clean, safe water - Worth protection

The corporate movement to privatize water departments in many communities is a sought-after policy displacement of poisoning water with efforts to monetize and control water, and water systems.

Water is life. Clean water is the hallmark of civilizations, as the world sees in Gaza where safe water is under attack as a means of destroying Gazan society. 

Flint, Michigan, Jackson, Mississippi, Big Ag and 100s of U.S. military facilities bring into focus why we should not privatize water, and why we should pay rapt attention to protecting water.

"The Water and Wastewater Systems Sector is vulnerable to a variety of attacks, including contamination with deadly agents, physical attacks such as the release of toxic gaseous chemicals and cyber attacks. If these attacks were realized, the result could be large numbers of illnesses or casualties and/or a denial of service that would also impact public health and economic vitality. Critical services such as firefighting and healthcare (hospitals), and other dependent and interdependent sectors, such as Energy, Food and Agriculture, and Transportation Systems, would suffer negative impacts from a denial of service in the Water and Wastewater Systems Sector,"
warns the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Who knew water systems were vulnerable to organized, domestic enemies? Everyone.

Erin Brockovich and Suzanne Boothby report:

Once again, the science is in, confirming what advocates have been saying for years.

One of the largest cancer incidence cohort studies in the U.S. just came out, and it shows alarming rates of cancer for civilian and military personnel who lived and worked at North Carolina’s Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, considered one of the worst toxic sites in the United States.

I hope all who have suffered feel a sense of validation. For those who have lost loved ones due to this terrible pollution, my heart goes out to you. No words can replace what you have lost.

What a betrayal. Democrats will not help.

Wisconsin Republicans' Coup Against Reality

In our democracy, we the American people have a vested, sacred interest in protecting our families' health, safety and lives.

When our society through legislative bodies enacts legislation, the process whether at the municipal, state or federal level, is supposed to be orderly and process-driven in which all parties and interests are equal under the law—broadly speaking.

But equality in the legislative process is not a feature of contemporary America.

This inequitable dynamic has accelerated in modern America as the Republican Party has worked for polluting industry, while erecting measures in many realms to disable and eliminate competing interests of industry, e.g. those families and communities that do not wish to be poisoned by industry-produced toxic wastes.

The legislative process where Republicans work as majorities suggests another realm for Republicans to rig the process: the judicial branch. Inequality for industry before adjudicating bodies is the industry-desired standard against families and communities working together to protect their health and very survival.

Rigged Judicial Hearing

As legislative action at the federal and state level the last 60 years has yielded laws and and agencies protecting health and safety, Republicans have inserted mechanistic language in statutes and legislation stating remarkably that courts examining governmental action will always arrive at predetermined results favoring a vague private interest as a protected class of litigants: Property owners and their "free" use of property, (Strifling, Marquette University Law School, Mal Contends).

In 2014, an orderly, neutral state administrative law hearing led to a result explicitly recognizing the rule of law against polluters producing toxins on their property, (Wisconsin Watch).

Among the Republican Party's counteroffensive is an audacious statutory and legislative framework that industrial property owners can do virtually anything, including inflicting costs onto society.

REINS - Regulation from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny

At this moment there are two bizarre bills in the Wisconsin legislature that call for automatic triggers if a state agency issues regulations: the REINS - Regulation from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny - Act, (Senate Bill 15, and Assembly Bill 42). SB 15 passed the Senate on August 8 2017. The legislation was tabled from consideration in the Assembly on June 14, 2017.

The radical REINS Act is effectively a legislative veto process of state agency regulations that Republicans want to protect polluting industry.

An amended REINS Act bill could be used in theory to protect families from polluting industry, a clean water advocate points out.

For example, a state administrative action issuing a Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (WPDES) under a state program that vectors manure into the environment could be halted under the theory that real dollar costs to society in healthcare, real property devaluation, road repair, well contamination/remediation costs, county-level conservation compliance and enforcement costs, nutrient management plan costs and so on make Big Ag-friendly administrative rules a cost that society, families and communities should not be made to bear.

But in Republican land, a regulatory action or rule is destructive if it protects families and communities against industry polluters because of the fact families are not real and do not exist in the current reality.

Look for new exposure in the months to come of a new and dangerous conception of property rights pushed by Republicans who are selling out Wisconsin families and communities and will not stop this perverse project.

Wisconsin Republicans' Destruction of Ad Law Dismantles Public Protection

Madison, Wisconisn — In Wisconsin, Republicans have been busily working since 2011 to ensure that any proceeding, hearing, deliberation and election arrives at an orderly pre-determined result favorable to Republicans' special interest.

To the extent Republicans may face adjudicative or electoral defeat, then the respective system must be rigged, gerrymandered, and programmed, with Constitutional rights vacated.

This radical destruction of Equal Protection and Due Process accomplished over six years is vastly under-reported in Wisconsin by a corporate press.

David Strifling at the Marquette Law School takes a shot at chronicling some major results of the statutory changes and corruption in administrative law in Wisconsin.

Writes Striflin:

In Wisconsin, the past five years have seen an unprecedented makeover in longstanding principles of state-level administrative law. These changes shift power away from agencies and toward courts, the legislature, and the governor. In this post, I divide the changes into three categories: 1) reductions in agency authority; 2) additions to the rulemaking process that, among other things, allow the Legislature to indefinitely block new rules; and, perhaps most importantly, 3) fundamental revisions to the doctrine of judicial deference to agency interpretations of law. Taken together, these developments deeply change the balance of power between agencies and the three branches of Wisconsin government.

Of course, Republicans cannot exactly write a statute explicitly reading that quasi-judiciary hearings arrive at pre-determined results. But they try.

So, like the statutory mandates for Wisconsin municipal, (kangaroo), court, Republicans have engineered statutory language mandating agencies rule in favor of a class of litigants when competing interests litigate a claim.

Notes Striflin:

In 2016, the Wisconsin Legislature changed that approach by enacting Wis. Stat. § 227.57(11). The statute provides that a 'court shall accord no deference to the agency’s interpretation of law if the agency action or decision restricts the property owner’s free use of the property owner’s property.' The contours of this exception aren’t clear; the terms 'restricts' and 'free use' will no doubt provide ample fodder for disputes in the years to come.

No, the statutory contours are not clear.

But the desired certainty for favored interests that exists in societies lacking the rule of law and Constitutional protections for all is an affront to American democratic traditions, which is what Republicans want.

Wisconsin Pollution Permits, Already Weak, Left to Expire by State Water Protectors

Protecting our lifeblood. Citizens rally at Wisconsin capitol in
February 2017. Hundreds more expected March 15, 2017 to
oppose water give-away bills (Senate Bill 76, Assem Bill 105)
pushed by Wisconsin Republicans,
(Protect Wood County and Its Neighbors)

Updated - Madison, Wisconsin — When viewing disasters from afar like typhoons striking third-world countries, we flip the channel.

Who wants to see the break-downs of safe water and sanitation systems, and depictions of fecal vectors carrying zoonotic bacterial disease, for example.

But we know to never drink water poisoned by feces.

Yet, in Wisconsin and other rural states whose governments have been taken over by Big Agriculture, (aka: industrialized ag, CAFOs, (Confined Agricultural Feeding Operations), the poison lobby), ag industries routinely replicate on small scales the effects of natural disasters.

Industrial agricultural operations emit millions of tons of liquidized, aerosolized and untreated cow feces into the environment to tragic health, economic, and social effects, (Yelle, Mal Contends), (Paulot and Jacob, NASA), (Ikerd, University of Missouri-Columbia), (Lundstrom, Cornucopia Institute).

Hundred of farmers, veterans, business owners and the just plain scared are expected at the Wisconsin state capitol March 15 to fight Republican-supported bills to take away protections from safe water. Industry wants the right to deplete water as well as poison water.

Have your ever met a family whose young child was almost poisoned by death by bathing and drinking water? (Midwest Environmental Advocates), (Wisconsin Watch), (Mal Contends). Pope Francis' recently made news with the call, "the earth is essentially a shared inheritance, whose fruits are meant to benefit everyone," a corollary of which is don't poison your neighbor, (Ikerd)

Wisconsin now has over 100s of heavily polluting dairy CAFOs. "Applications to the DNR for dairy CAFOs are approaching cattle populations of 10,000 head each. That’s a far cry from the forty-cow family-run dairies of 25 years ago. In terms of a very common measure of water pollution potential, biochemical oxygen demand, the organic pollution potential of a 10,000 head dairy is equal to 180,000 people. That’s bigger than the city of Green Bay. Green Bay has a waste-water treatment plant. CAFOs do not. A 10,000 head dairy produces enough manure to fill up Lambeau Field where the Packers play all the way to the top of the cheap seats on the fifth story bleachers, ... four times a year," said Gordon Stevenson in an interview with Mal Contends in 2014. Stevenson is a 26-year veteran of the DNR where his last assignment was serving as the Chief of Runoff Management until his retirement in January of 2011.

The pollution is getting worse, and the regulation for the public welfare is getting weaker.

Expired Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, (WPDES) Permits

Mary Dougherty of Bayfield County in northwestern Wisconsin is working with a citizens' group that has successfully stopped the operation of a massive swine CAFO that would devastate arguably the most beautiful region in Wisconsin bordering Lake Superior and national forests, (Facebook), (Slater, Duluth News Tribune), (Mal Contends), (Mal Contends), (Russell, Fox 21-KQDS).

Dougherty has a post in Facebook out that is a must-read.

Dougherty tabulates the number of expired Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, (WPDES), permits. WPDES is French for approval to vector cow feces into the environment and communities.

The EPA notes of cow manure: "When excess nutrients, pathogens, organic matter and solids from manure discharge to surface waters they can cause excess algae growth and deplete the water of oxygen needed by fish and other aquatic life; they can also make the water unsafe for recreational activities and as a source of drinking water. Manure pollutants can also leach through the soil and enter the groundwater, making it unsafe for drinking."

Dougherty found that 31 percent of WPDES approvals are expired. This continues the Republican Party's go-ahead to pollute without consequences.

Writes Dougherty:

I went through the DNR WPDES (CAFO permit) database last week and created a spreadsheet with all the expired CAFO permits in Wisconsin. And guess what?? 93 of the 291 permits for WI CAFOs are expired (nearly 32%).

There are at least 333,930 Animal Units, or nearly 334 million pounds of cows, pigs, turkeys and chickens, producing manure without a current permit in Wisconsin.

This is yet another example of the lack of oversight by the DNR when it comes to CAFOs in Wisconsin. And I lay the responsibility for this alarming and wholly unacceptable situation at the feet of our elected officials in Madison.

They have the power (by providing funds and direction to the DNR) to rectify this situation and they choose NOT to protect citizens from the rampant CAFO pollution poisoning rural communities because they are doing the bidding of Big Ag at the Capitol.

For screen shots of each expired permit, see Expired WDPES Permits in Wisconsin and Facebook.

Last year Wisconsin Public Radio reported, "In their 2017-19 biennial budget request, the DNR proposes increasing staff dedicated to the CAFO program from 17 to 21 by reallocating positions to the CAFO permitting staff."

The staff won't be there to help Wisconsin families and communities. The staff will green-light polluting permits faster.

Expired Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, (WDPES), Permits

By Mary Dougherty

Water Advocate Mary Dougherty of Bayfield, Wisconsin Sustains

Mary Dougherty of Bayfield, Wisconsin is clean
water advocate and a "force of nature,"
(Slater, Duluth News Tribune)

When most Wisconsinites say 'up north,' Bayfield, Wisconsin exemplifies what they mean.

It means water, forests, eagles, a region near Lake Superior that is so breathtakingly gorgeous that new visitors often leave feeling they have become in touch with something new or something very old.

Mary Dougherty of Bayfield, Wisconsin is a clean water activist and embodies a social movement advocating life and nature over toxic pollution and human greed.

Brady Slater has a profile of Dougherty in the Duluth News Tribune.

Anyone who has met Dougherty and her 1,000s of fresh water activists likely walks away wondering who could oppose what they work for.

Writes the News Tribune's Slater:

'Mary has got a knack for organizing,' said Kendra Kimbirauskas, a farmer and chief executive officer for the Socially Responsible Agriculture Project, [SRAP], based in Salem, Ore. 'She's forward-thinking and looks at being creative with the public and elected officials. She asks, "What is it we can do to truly protect what we value here as residents?" That's not where all communities are at. Usually, we get calls for help from communities that are in crisis.'

Dougherty was so effective in persuading her community to mobilize against the prospective hog farm that SRAP hired her to be an area consultant. She's now working with other counties in the state — including Kewaunee, St. Croix and Crawford — in their efforts to stem the environmental impacts of corporate farming.

On Wednesday, Dougherty and her group, Farms Not Factories, are co-organizing the first Citizens' Water Lobby Day at the state capitol in Madison. An anonymous donation of six charter buses inspired the event that will feature information tables, connect citizens to legislators and culminate with a silent march — all in an effort, its promotional flyer says, 'to demand responsible water policy from elected officials.'

'We're all fighting the same fight on different fronts,' Dougherty said. 'Our intent is to bring us all together and speak with one voice so that we can leverage our individual might. We're up against a huge industry that's entrenched in our political system. They don't want people to stand in the way of modern agriculture.'

Meet Mary Dougherty, spend some time near Lake Superior or the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest.

You may join the legion of folks who decided to pull up stakes and live up north, and who now spend much of the rest of their lives fighting for fresh water.

Big Ag in Wisconsin: Depleted, Fecal-Infused Water Is Good for You

 Big Agriculture PR Offensive: Lies and Lies

Update: Big Ag's presentation in Portage County in central Wisconsin falls flat. About 14 member of Protect Wood County went to the Portage County Board meeting Tuesday night. The place was absolutely packed and a number of us had to sit in an adjoining courtroom and watch the
proceedings through a video link. Louis Wysocki gave the WPVGA, [agri-business] presentation and did a remarkably poor job of it.  After that 10 citizens gave three-minute minute rebuttals that were uniformly articulate and fact-based. Our Criste Greening did exceptionally well. Then three County Board members spoke in favor of protecting our water.  Louis and Big Ag had no one speaking in their support!
 ---
Amid safe drinking-water concerns among Wisconsin families, Big Agriculture has launched a new public relations project just in time for the holidays, as 1,000s of citizens revamp efforts to stop a massive a factory farm from operating.

The project includes a new, high-end website purporting to be devoted to water conservation, offering readers a 180-page Orwellian "High Capacity Wells Fact Book," cloaked in the language of conserve-and-protect our water. [Nice piece of work, if content is ignored.]

High-capacity water wells draw 70 or more gallons of groundwater a minute, or 100,800 or more gallons of water a day. Under Republican administration, the safety and protection of private water wells in Wisconsin is now virtually nonexistent, a regulatory regime that is being litigated by clean water advocates, as clean water groups look to federal law in the face of Republican hostility.

The industrial-scale water depleters operate under the prevailing Big Ag assumptions that water is in endless supply; rural Wisconsin is an unlimited sewer; and rural, Wisconsin folks' abiding belief that huge agribusiness are the inheritors of the mythical small farmer—the Wisconsin volk, (Mal Contends).

Who knew Big Ag was in league with the Sierra Club, and not the corporate institutional imperatives of generating profits and transferring costs onto society? No, Wisconsinites are led to believe the Big Ag industry are water warriors.

Boat launch at Long Lake, near Plainfield, Wisconsin, no longer
reaches the water, depleted and drained by high-capacity wells.
Nothing to see here, assures industrialized agriculture.
Photo: Kate Golden, (Wisconsin Watch)

Asked about Big Ag's all-we-want-is-clean-and-safe-water messages emitted last campaign season, clean water activists laughed, pointing to Wisconsin's Republican attorney general, Wisconsin's Republican state assembly, and everything Republican. 

Popular sentiment notes industrialized agriculture's costs inflicted onto communities in water pollution, water depletion, air pollution, and medical illness.

So, the Big Ag propaganda offensive omits mention of these unpleasant consequences of vectoring millions of gallons of untreated cow feces into the air and water.

Big Ag assures us factory farms are carrying on the tradition of Wisconsin's "great grandfathers" believing in the manner of a zealot the holy mission that Big Ag must "protect the land and protect the water for without both of them, your life as a farmer will be forever forgotten." Big Ag will say and do anything.

Big Ag owners are not farmers, they are corporatists.

What's next? In the next legislative session, Republicans and too many Democrats are poised to legislate a massive give-away of public water to Big Ag.

Having decimated state government protection of water, in Wisconsin's counties and municipalities Big Ag is on the offensive:

From Protect Wood County and Its Neighbors

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

The attack has officially begun!  We have heard rumblings that bad water bills are staged to be presented as soon as our Wisconsin Legislature is back in session. To promote a smooth transition for passage of these bad bills, large scale AG groups are hitting local governments with preplanned presentations promoting  their “Water Fact Book” created by the industry which is packed full of false claims and misleading information.

It is apparent Big Ag is setting the stage for an all-out assault on our groundwater resources.

A memo from the Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Grows Association (WPVGA) outlines how they are planning to target all the central sands county boards and have someone present these boards with the High Capacity Wells fact book 'facts', graphs, data during the December board meetings.

Purpose: (taken from the memo)
Our main goal is to head off local activist pressure on county and town boards to prevent them from passing irrational resolutions or writing letters to the legislature which could have a negative impact on our legislative efforts.

Our group was notified a few days ago that Louis Wysocki is scheduled to present at the upcoming Portage County board meeting on Tuesday Dec 20th.  We have also heard that the plan is to hit all local county boards in a very short time period.  We have looked over the Wood and Adams County Board agendas for this month and so far have not come across a planned presentation.  If it does hit either county we will let you know ASAP.

What does this mean for you and me?
#1 – We need all our supporters to reactivate and re-engage.   A concerted effort is needed in showing a presence at local meetings both in Wood County and in our sister communities that need assistance.

#2 – Be ready to contact your local and state officials with your questions and concerns about groundwater legislation.

#3 – Be vigilant at checking your emails and Facebook accounts for last minute updates and alerts.  Often hearings for legislative bills are given only 24 hours’ notice and plans are made at the last moment to hit Madison.

#4 – SHARE, SHARE, SHARE – Share information about bad legislation, upcoming meetings, encourage participation on our email list and Facebook page.  KNOWLEDGE IS POWER we need everyone sharing information with family and friends to successfully beat back the bad water legislation coming our way.

Mass Rally for Clean Water Planned for Wisconsin State Capitol, Oct 22

Rally and party at the Madison, Wisconsin Capitol on Oct 22,
Saturday from 10 a.m. to Noon, and after

We are people fighting to protect our homes, our water, and quality of life from an industry with a horrid track record of polluting rural communities

Rally and party at the Madison, Wisconsin Capitol on Oct 22, Saturday from 10 a.m. to Noon, and after.

We're fighting for clean and safe water from the biological, chemical, and economic attack from industrialized ag factories.

Our water, air and a healthy environment now savaged by Concentrated (Confined) Agricultural Feeding Operations (CAFOs), an industrialized and massively polluting corporate farming model adopted by big agriculture against popular opposition.

From Farms Not Factories:

We are at a crossroads in Wisconsin. Our water, air and quality of life is threatened by industrial agriculture and its factory farming. You only have to look at Kewaunee County and their polluted wells; the DNR's incorporation of Attorney General Brad Schimel’s opinion on the cumulative impacts of high capacity wells; Midwest Environmental Advocates Petition for Corrective Action; or the Legislative Audit Bureau's report on the DNR's wastewater permitting and enforcement to see that the CAFO way of doing business is causing harm across this state.

We The People have the power to change what no longer serves us but we must stand together; unified in our message that we will exercise our collective power to protect our rights to clean water, clean air and a good quality of life. It's time our elected officials in Madison decide to stand with us, the citizens of Wisconsin, and help us push back against a greedy and immoral industry that is poisoning our rural communities.

Hitting Wisc Communities for Unwanted Products by Polluting CAFOs Is Not Worth It

Why would anyone consider imperiling Wisconsin communities for the profits of corporate ag, while destroying small farmers, depleting our water and polluting municipalities so badly, families are being driven out of their homes?

Politicians do it for the money, and the money.

The same with CAFOs, using corporate ag's anti-community business model, they do it for the money.

The hell with everyone else.

Your children poisoned? Too bad.  Your home uninhabitable? Breaks my heart.

Got a call from an old friend. He told me liquid manure spreading is so bad, he can't open his windows. He lives in Door County.

Big Ag is destroying Wisconsin, and Republican politicians from Joel Kitchens to Scott Krug to Scott Walker are running a con.

Governor Walker and concerned citizens blind copied here

By Don Ystad,
Rome, Wisconsin

With milk prices down 41% since September of 2014, and the recent announcement that the US government is buying 11 million pounds of excess cheese for distribution to food pantries, does it still make sense to continue offering grants to increase dairy farming in Wisconsin? And more importantly for those of us living in the Rome/Saratoga, (Adams, Wood counties), area, how long will your administration continue supporting the proposal for an 8,000 acre, 5,300 cow dairy CAFO in the midst of our established residential/recreational area?

Seriously, how can one justify putting at risk the property, health and lifestyle of a population dense community for a dairy CAFO in a seriously depressed market where producers are hanging on through government insurance programs and subsidies?

Were we under a drastic shortage of necessary food product, one could rationalize the argument that my neighbors and I should sacrifice in order to feed our fellow citizens. But, when the supply far outpaces the demand for dairy, as it has the past two years and is worsening, it makes no sense to allow these communities to spin in the wind, fighting to preserve their property values, health and well being, and their lifestyle, while the proposed Golden Sands Dairy remains an unbelievable possibility for the thousands of us in harms way.

Please explain why this proposed project, or any expansion of dairy for that matter, is still viable in Wisconsin. Facing additional state budget cuts, it makes no sense to offer grants and other incentives to increase dairy. A neighbor asked me who that one decision maker is that considers all the factors where this proposed CAFO is concerned, and makes the determination that the well being of this existing residential/recreational area is more important than the CAFO.  I would hope that person is you, Governor Walker.

Thank you,
---
See, Say cheese to a market glut. (Rosenthal, Chicago Tribune).

National Groups Support Family Farmers' Legal Fight in Minnesota

By Don Ystad

This is what it takes - key citizen groups and environmental groups banding together to form a lobby of millions of people, much greater than any Big Ag lobby.

While these greedy CAFO operators masquerade as family farmers, the real family farmers are being driven out. These huge CAFOs suck the life out of the soil, pollute the water and air, and gobble up the subsidies meant for family farms.

These nationally recognized citizen groups have stepped forward with their millions of members to support this family farmer suing to protect themselves from a CAFO in Minnesota. An example of the power of a collective voice and an incentive for our communities.

See also Hannah Sayle's Big Ag is conquering Minnesota like a noxious, unkillable weed:

Minnesota's water quality — our state's greatest natural asset — has become a sacrificial lamb to Big Ag.

The industry has rapidly but quietly taken control of the state legislature, affixing Minnesota with a new slogan: the Land of 9,000 Lakes and 1,000 Cesspools. 

Case is Lowell Trom and Evelyn Trom v. County of Dodge, Dodge County Board of Commissioners, and Masching Swine Farms, LLC, (Minnesota Court File No. 20-CV-15-17).

From the Law Offices of James P. Peters, PLLC:

Law, Science, and Citizen Action Back Family Farmers

St. Paul, Minnesota - A coalition of the nation’s leading public health and environmental groups, in an unprecedented action, joined a lifelong family farmer’s legal efforts to address the negative impacts associated with factory farms.

Professionals at the Center for a Livable Future at Johns Hopkins University, the Humane Society of the United States, Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (“MCEA”), Environment Minnesota, and Food and Water Watch on July 25 filed formal requests in the Minnesota Court of Appeals to participate in an appeal filed by Lowell and Evelyn Trom of rural Dodge County, Minnesota against a large corporate factory farm and Dodge County, Minnesota. The Troms sued Dodge County and a large corporate factory farm operator, Masching Swine Farms, LLC, following approval of the 11th swine factory farm, or feedlot, within a 3-mile radius of their home.

Given the public nature of the Trom’s lawsuit, these groups, representing millions of members throughout the United States, filed requests for amicus with the Minnesota Court of Appeals, where the Troms’ case is currently being reviewed. A request for amicus (or friend of the court) is filed by individuals or organizations who, while not a party to a lawsuit, have a strong public interest in or knowledge in the subject matter. The intent is to provide the Court with information regarding the effects of a decision beyond the parties involved in the case.  The Court of Appeals must approve the requests.

According to the request filed by Johns Hopkins University professionals, they will assert a public interest.  “The Dodge County Ordinances at issue in this case required compliance with U.S. and state environmental laws, and the permit at issue in this appeal has broad implications for Dodge County, other counties in Minnesota and rural areas across the U.S.” The Center for a Livable Future at Johns Hopkins will “provide interpretation of relevant scientific evidence regarding the public health and community impacts of industrial-scale swine production, “ including the spread of infectious diseases to communities; groundwater and surface water pollution, and associated health impacts on communities; and air pollution, odors, and associated health and social impacts on communities.

In a joint request filed by the Humane Society of the United States and Animal Legal Defense Fund, these groups will specifically discuss “the burgeoning threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria to animal welfare and public health, exacerbated by antibiotic overuse and confinement conditions at concentrated animal feeding operations.”

In a third request filed by MCEA, Environment Minnesota and Food and Water Watch, these public interest groups are dedicated to protecting the environment and public health.  These organizations “have particular expertise and experience in animal feedlot regulation that is distinct from the experience of any other party in this appeal.”  MCEA has participated in administrative rulemaking proceedings concerning the regulation of pollutants discharged to surface and ground water from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (“CAFOs”).  MCEA has a distinct interest in ensuring that local regulations preserve and respect procedural rights in order to protect the natural resources of this state.  Environment Minnesota, with its commitment to protect our rivers, lakes streams and water resources, is “deeply concerned by the water pollution impacts of industrial livestock operations.”  Food and Water Watch (“FWW”), which champions healthy food and clean water, advocates for safe, wholesome food produced in a humane and sustainable manner.  FWW is also concerned about the cumulative harmful impacts of the many feedlots already in the immediate vicinity including by contaminating surface waters with nitrogen, phosphorus, bacteria and pharmaceuticals.

Appellant Lowell Trom stated that “We have known for a long time that our lawsuit is not just about our family.  If our family loses, we all lose.” 

Copies of the requests for leave to file amicus briefs are posted online at the website for Dodge County Concerned Citizens.  www.dodgecc.org.

Descriptions of the groups:

The Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (“CLF”), with its global expertise, works with students, educators, researchers, policymakers, advocacy organizations and communities to build a healthier, more equitable and resilient food system.  CLF’s work is driven by the concept that public health, diet, food production and the environment are deeply interrelated and that understanding these relationships is crucial in pursuing a livable future.  Factory farming (or industrial food animal production) is an area of high-priority.  www.jhsph.edu.  This is the largest school of public health in the world.  Ranked #1 by U.S. News and World Report since 1994.  First institution of its kind worldwide.

The Humane Society of the United States is the nation’s largest and most effective animal protection organization.  On behalf of its several million members and constituents, The Humane Society is the leading animal advocacy organization in the U.S. and is driving transformational change around the world by combating large-scale animal cruelties such as factory farming.  www.humanesociety.org.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund’s (“ALDF”) mission is to protect the lives and advance the interests of animals through the legal system.  ALDF’s groundbreaking efforts are instrumental in pushing for change in the U.S. legal system to end the suffering and unnecessary killing of animals.  ALDF is active in public advocacy and education regarding animal suffering and environmental degradation caused by concentrated animal feeding operations (“CAFOs”).  www.aldf.org.

Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (“MCEA”) uses law, science and research to protect Minnesota’s environment, its natural resources and the health of its people.  MCEA is the leading legal voice protecting Minnesota’s environment, with deep organizational expertise that includes some of the foremost environmental law and policy professionals in the state. www.mncenter.org.

Environment Minnesota is the state affiliate of Environment America, which is dedicated to protecting our air, water and open spaces.   Environment Minnesota believes there is something special about Minnesota – something special about protecting and preserving for future generations.  www.environmentminnesota.org.

Food and Water Watch champions healthy food and clean water for all.  They stand up to corporations that put profits before people, and advocate for a democracy that improves people’s lives and protects our environment.  www.foodandwaterwatch.org.

Wisc Court Hits State DoJ and Factory Farm Polluters in Win for Clean and Safe Water Advocates

Wisconsin DoJ and Industrialized Ag Hit in State Circuit Court Opinion

- Dane County Judge John W. Markson offers hope not all law is rigged in Wisconsin

From Midwest Environmental Advocates:

In a victory for this case, [Clean Water, Inc. and Lynda A. Cochart v. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources et al (Wisconsin Case No. 2015CV002633)], we are pleased to share the July 14, 2016 Circuit Court [Judge John W. Markson's] decision that affirms the petitioners' and partner organization Clean Wisconsin's argument before the court that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources' rejection of the Division of Hearings and Appeals' Administrative Law Judge's order to include animal unit limits and off-site groundwater monitoring of Kewaunee County CAFO was unlawful. This decision also describes how the Department of Justice's narrow interpretation of Act 21 - that the DNR did not have explicit authority to impose these permit conditions - was incorrect and that state statutes do empower the DNR to require limits and monitoring of pollution in order for permitees to comply with state and federal clean water laws.

Read the full Circuit Court decision (PDF).


On Monday, October 12, 2015, three years after the initial petition for a contested case hearing, and a year after the administrative law judge issued a decision in this case, we had to again challenge the DNR’s unlawful action in September to overturn the judge’s decision. After the DNR changed its position, petitioners appealed the agency’s final decision (PDF, large file) to permit the company to operate without a limit on the number of animals in the facility or a requirement to monitor the conditions of groundwater where the company spreads manure offsite. Petitioners’ appeal was combined with Clean Wisconsin’s appeal and the cases were briefed before the Dane County Circuit Court.

On Friday, September 11, 2015, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources issued a final decision on the challenged water pollution permit, circumventing the October 2014 Administrative Law Judge's decision and doing an about-face on the position the agency argued in the case. In October, the Judge found that the DNR does have the authority under state law to include an animal unit limit and off-site groundwater monitoring requirement in the industrial livestock operation's permit, and called the polluted groundwater in Kewaunee County evidence of a “massive regulatory failure.”

Midwest Environmental Advocates is working with Kewaunee County petitioners in this appeal by providing the citizens with legal and technical support. In a parallel action, Clean Wisconsin has also filed an appeal of the agency’s decision as it would have set a precedent that could negatively impact groundwater protections throughout the state of Wisconsin.

Case Summary

Original case and decision

In October 2012, neighbors of the proposed expansion of a large, concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) filed a petition with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to request a review of the water pollution permit issued to Kinnard Farms Inc. in the Town of Lincoln, Kewaunee County, Wisconsin.

Petitioners are concerned that an expansion of Kinnard’s industrial dairy will produce so much farm waste that its plans to manage, store, and spread manure on area land will result in runoff into area surface and downstream waters, and will contaminate the groundwater on which the families rely for drinking water. The DNR issued the permit before the CAFO’s design plans for the expanded facility were complete and reviewed and approved by the DNR. This denied the public’s right to review and voice their concerns about the expansion and hampered the agency’s ability to determine whether additional conditions or monitoring were necessary to protect the area’s land and water. The agency also did not include a limit on the number of cows at the dairy, which is essential to an enforceable permit.

The five petitioners live near or share property lines with the proposed CAFO expansion and have deep concerns about the impact of the dairy’s waste management on the health of their families, their land and their water. Some have lived their entire lives in the rural town. To them, property means more than acreage. Their land is their home, where they have raised children, enjoyed recreation and wildlife, peace, quiet and fresh country air.

But they also understand the geological features of the Karst region, which has deeply cracked land that does not filter rain or runoff like other soils do and is particularly prone to groundwater pollution. Polluted groundwater is already a health concern for people who live in the area. According to Kewaunee County Land and Conservation Department records, 50% of private wells tested in the Town of Lincoln are unsafe to drink, either because they tested positive for total coliform bacteria or because they exceed groundwater quality standards for nitrates (for an interactive map of groundwater quality in Wisconsin, visit the Center for Watershed Science at UW-Stevens Point website).Further, for residents with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, living near manure lagoons filled with the untreated waste from thousands of cows turns fresh, country air into aggravated health problems.

After citizens filed their petition with the DNR, the agency granted the request for a contested case hearing with the Wisconsin State Division of Hearings and Appeals. Kinnard Farms intervened and asked the Division to dismiss the case. The appeals division dismissed the request for summary judgment and a contested case hearing was held in Green Bay on February 11-14. Attorneys completed a briefing schedule and Midwest Environmental Advocates filed the final brief on behalf of the petitioners on June 27, 2014.

On October 29, 2014, the Wisconsin State Division of Hearings and Appeals issued a decision in the water pollution permit challenge. Two of the most important parts of the decision include orders for groundwater monitoring and an animal unit limit as enforceable permit conditions. Specifically:

• Kinnard Farms, Inc. must conduct groundwater monitoring at the production area and around at least two landspreading fields. Kinnard must submit a plan to the DNR within 90 days of the decision that includes no less than six groundwater monitoring wells. If practicable, at least two of those wells must be in locations that monitor groundwater quality impacts from off-site manure landspreading.
• Kinnard Farms, Inc. is now required to put a cap on the number of animals to ensure the facility does not grow beyond its current capacity to store and dispose of the large quantity of manure held on site in multimillion gallon lagoons.

Other results from the decision included the requirement for Kinnard Farms, Inc. to take steps to prevent environmental harm from a catastrophic failure of above-ground manure storage lagoons. The pollution permit now also has requirements meant to protect surface water and aquatic life from the facility’s discharges. Unfortunately, these additional conditions are very general and are likely harder to enforce than the numeric discharge limits and monitoring requirements Petitioners sought. The decision also did not require Kinnard Farms, Inc. to reduce the amount of manure it can spread on fields, which the Petitioners believe will contribute to surface water and groundwater pollution.
This case should encourage the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to take science-based, meaningful steps to protect our water from the pollution caused by the mismanagement of livestock manure. Industrial livestock operations create waste just like other industrial pollution sources. They need to be regulated like other industrial point sources across the state, with strict discharge limits and monitoring oversight. Read MEA's press statement on the decision.

Appeals

On November 18, 2014, Kinnard Farms, Inc. submitted a petition asking the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Secretary to review the recent administrative law judge’s decision. Midwest Environmental Advocates sent the DNR Secretary a letter urging the agency to reject the petition for review as the request would undermine the integrity of the contested case hearing process and ignore the role of an administrative law judge as an independent decision maker. On Tuesday November 25, the DNR Secretary declined Kinnard’s petition for review.

Kinnard’s Appeal and Motion for a Stay
As expected, Kinnard Farms, Inc. appealed Administrative Law Judge Boldt’s decision on November 25, 2014 to challenge the authority of the DNR to require an animal unit limit and a plan for groundwater monitoring at fields where Kinnard land applies and disposes of its manure. Kinnard also filed a motion for a stay of Judge Boldt’s decision so that Kinnard would not have to provide a groundwater monitoring plan for its landspreading fields and would not have to provide information necessary for the DNR to include an animal unit limit in its permit.

Petitioners’ and DNR Motion to Dismiss
The citizen petitioners along with the DNR filed a motion to dismiss Kinnard’s appeal on December 22, 2014. They argued that Kinnard cannot appeal Judge Boldt’s decision yet because it is not “final” and ready for appeal until the DNR issues the modified Kinnard WPDES permit with the conditions that Judge Boldt ordered—including groundwater monitoring at landspreading fields and an animal unit limit.

Next steps for appeals
On April 28, 2015, the Door County Circuit Court agreed with citizens and the DNR that the case wasn’t ready for appeal until the DNR modified the permit and made the decision “final.” Initially, instead of dismissing the appeal, the court chose to put the appeal on hold until the DNR made its “final” decision by issuing a modified Kinnard water pollution, or WPDES, permit. The court also declined to rule on Kinnard’s motion to stay, and thus declined to prevent the DNR from enforcing, Judge Boldt’s decision.

The court later reconsidered its decision to put the appeal on hold instead of dismissing it outright. On June 9, 2015, the court decided that the more appropriate action was to dismiss the appeal pending a final decision from the DNR. Kinnard can appeal to the circuit court again once the DNR makes a final decision and issues a modified permit.

Kinnard’s Failure to Provide Information to the DNR
During the time that the Door County Circuit Court Judge Todd Ehlers assigned to Kinnard’s appeal did not rule on the citizens’ and DNR’s motion to dismiss, Kinnard still had not complied with Judge Boldt’s order. In his decision, Judge Boldt ordered Kinnard to develop a groundwater monitoring plan for its main site as well as its landspreading fields within 90 days of the decision. Kinnard then submitted a groundwater monitoring plan for its main site, but not for landspreading fields. The DNR sent a letter to Kinnard asking for a complete groundwater monitoring plan that complies with Judge Boldt’s order. The company did not respond. On June 3, 2015, the DNR sent another letter to Kinnard Farms, Inc. to request the information necessary to develop a groundwater monitoring protocol and set up an animal unit limit.

DNR Permit Decision and petitioner appeal
On Friday, September 11, 2015, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources issued a final decision on the challenged water pollution permit, circumventing the October 2014 Administrative Law Judge's decision and doing an about-face on the agency's position. The Judge found that the DNR does have the authority under state law to include an animal unit limit and off-site groundwater monitoring requirement in the industrial livestock operation's permit. But the DNR now denies that it has that authority.

On September 17, Administrative Law Judge Boldt sent a letter to the DNR's Office of Legal Services citing a 2001 Maple Leaf Farms vs DNR lawsuit in which the Wisconsin Court of Appeals held that the Wisconsin legislature has "clearly and unambiguously" given the DNR authority to regulate off-site landspreading of manure. Judge Boldt's letter points out how the known court decision conflicts with the DNR's denial of its authority.

Questions remain as to whether the agency's action - and the Wisconsin Department of Justice's opinion letters on which it is based - have legal merit or would survive a circuit court challenge. On Monday, October 12, petitioners filed an appeal of the agency’s final decision to permit the company to operate without a limit on the number of animals in the facility or a requirement to monitor the conditions of groundwater where the company spreads manure offsite.

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Related Media Coverage

After criticizing judge, DNR secretary declines to "correct" ruling on Kewaunee dairy water permit - Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, Kate Golden, 11/26/2014
Kewaunee mega-dairy asks DNR secretary to overrule judge's permit modifications - Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, Kate Golden, 11/20/2014
‘A Massive Regulatory Failure to Protect Groundwater,’ Kinnard CAFO Must Cap Cow Numbers, Monitor Groundwater – Peninsula Pulse, Jim Lundstrom, 11/7/2014
Judge: Contaminated Wells Part of ‘Massive Regulatory Failure’ – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Lee Bergquist, 11/6/2014
Kinnard Farms Expansion Approved With Conditions – Door County Daily News, Tim Kowols, 11/4/2014
Judge Blames Toxic Kewaunee County Wells on ‘Massive Regulatory Failure” – Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, Ron Seely, 10/30/2014
Mega-Dairy's Growth Plans Hotly Debated- Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, Ron Seely, 2/14/2014
Kewaunee County DNR Permit Hearing Underway in Green Bay- Green Bay Press Gazette, Nathan Phelps, 2/12/2014
Kewaunee County Residents Challange DNR's Approval of Dairy Farm Expansion- Wisconsin Public Radio News, 2/10/2014
The hearing was also highlighted in the Wisconsin Ag Connection, Door County Daily News, Kewaunee County Star News and Green Bay Press Gazette, NBC 26 (with video) and Fox 11 (with video).
Disputed Expansion of Dairy Watched for Statewide Impact - Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, Kate Golden, 2/8/2014, includes map of the concentration of permitted CAFOs in Wisconsin
Kewaunee County Residents Challenging Wisconsin Water Quality Code - Peninsula Pulse, Carol Thompson, 1/3/2014
Manure Spills in 2013 the Highest in Seven Years Statewide - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Lee Bergquist, 12/5/2013
Kewaunee Families File Legal Action Against DNR - Peninsula Pulse, 10/26/2013
Explosion of CAFOs Cause for Concern in Kewaunee County - Peninsula Pulse, Robyn Mulhaney Op Ed, 8/23/2013
CAFO Expansion in Kewaunee Raises Concerns - Peninsula Pulse, Carol Thompson, 11/9/2012
The Costs of CAFOs - Peninsula Pulse, Carol Thompson, 8/31/2012
State Pits Water Quality Versus Commerce - Peninsula Pulse, Myles Dannhausen Jr., 6/9/2011

Big Ag Pollution Is Coming to Wisconsin with Republican Invite

Atlantic Ocean - blue green toxic algae
blooms threaten tourism, fishing,
humans and other living things

What happens on industrial agricultural operations doesn't stay on agricultural operations

Updated - There are some 282 massive industrial agricultural operations, CAFOs, in Wisconsin with many new permits and permit expansions coming down the pike.

CAFOs are a menace to Wisconsin communities because the operations dump millions of tons of toxic and untreated liquid cow manure into the environment annually, befouling lakes, aquifers, streams, the air, and driving down property valuations for people living near CAFOs.

Florida -No Swimming, Blue Green
Algae alert on Florida beaches
2016 (Photo by Zach Brown)

To understand how politically powerful Big Agricultural operations are, consider what is happening to the Treasure Coast of Florida, now under a state of emergency as toxic Algea blooms created by Big Agriculture are dumped into the open toilet, called Lake Okeechobee, and vectored by Republican Gov. Rick Scott into the Atlantic Ocean.

"As we have described before, toxic algal blooms develop when water is polluted with high levels of nutrients, like nitrates and phosphorous. For algal blooms in Martin County, Lake Erie and other parts of the country, the primary source of pollution is conventional agriculture," writes Shannon Van Hoesen in AgMag. "In the Florida case, polluted runoff from sugar cane farms and other agriculture operations flows into Lake Okeechobee, the largest freshwater lake in the state. When water levels of the lake rise too high and it risks flooding, state officials will flush waters from the lake into rivers, like the St. Lucie River that flows from the middle of the state into the ocean ... While the impacts of pollution from Big Ag may seem like a distant thought to most of us, the typically pristine beaches of the Treasure Coast covered in blue-green algae are a reminder that what happens on the farm doesn’t always stay on the farm."

Wood County Wisconsin 2104 - Swim at your own
risk, do not ingest lake water, shower after
swimming, wash hands before eating
and do not swim if you are ill. Area industrialized
agriculture is actively targeting central Wisconsin
in an effort to conspicuously dump
liquid manure that so repulses multi-
generational families that long-time
residents will pack and leave the region.

In Wisconsin, massive dairy CAFOs produce millions of tons of liquid cow manure that is vectored into area surface waters and aquifers to equally tragic consequence as in Florida.

Big Ag in Wisconsin has purchased the Republican Party and Republican polluter-friendly incumbents, including Rep. Scott Krug (R-Nekoosa, Wisconsin) and Rep. Joel Kitchens (R-Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin), are targets in November 2016 though their districts have been gerrymandered by Wisconsin Republicans.

Central Wisconsin and their allies across the state are now fighting an area CAFO, the giant Central Sands Dairy CAFO, and the effort by Central Sands to get state approval to vector more cow manure into surface waters and aquifers. Central Sands' owner, the Wysocki corporation, is attempting to begin operations for another proposed area CAFO, the Golden Sands CAFO.

From Concerned Rome (Adams County Wisconsin) Citizens email this morning:

Subject:CAFO Alert - Action Required‏

Fellow concerned citizens,

It's interesting that again, it appears a request has been made just before a holiday weekend, trying to "fly under the radar".  The Nutrient Management Plan (NWP) they want to increase above recommended standards controls how much manure can be applied around the CAFO, in this case the Wysocki Central Sands CAFO across the river in Armenia. Neighboring drinking water wells there are already far above the state limit for Nitrates.

Why is that an issue for you?  These are the same Wysockis trying to force in a CAFO next door in Saratoga and we need to stop their manipulation of regulations at every turn. 

Please see Criste Greening's e-mail below and send your request to the DNR's Tyler Dix.

Dear friends & Concerned Citizens,

Time Sensitive - Response needed immediately

Once again the Central Sands Dairy and the Wysocki Organization is trying to sneak changes into their current Nutrient Management Plan. Their most recent request is to exceed manure application standards outlined by the UW Extension, this would allow them to apply much more manure to their fields than currently permitted to apply.  This is outrageous!

The public notice of this most recent modification request was posted on June 27th.  We have only 14 days to request a public hearing regarding the requested change.  Please do not delay, copy and paste the message below into a fresh email and send to Tyler Dix at the DNR.  This MUST be done before July 11th.  Tyler.Dix@wisconsin.gov

If choosing to construct your own individual email the following information MUST be included.

All petitions for a public hearing on substantial NMP modifications must include: the name, address and interest of the petitioner and reason(s) why a hearing is warranted.

Protect Wood County and Central Wisconsin, Say People

Shoveling some serious shite across Wisconsin -
Big Ag workers, State Rep. Scott Krug (R-Nekoosa, Wisconsin)
and State Rep. Joel Kitchens (R-Sturgeon Bay), work closely
with Scott Walker and polluters to help with pro-pollution,
effective political messaging. Krug and Kitchens made a
joint appearance on March 31, 2016 at Algoma City Hall
in northeastern Wisconsin. Krug and Kitchens
told residents to contact the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural
Resources (DNR) to have their concerns about polluted water
heard. The DNR under Scott Walker has abdicated its
traditional mission to protect natural resources, including
water. Citizens came out on a Winter evening and were lied to
repeatedly by two elected state officials who should be
looking out for constituents, not polluters.

Central Wisconsin citizens speak a simple and compelling message: Protect our communities' water, protect our environment, protect our children and protect our future.

Citizens' demands are met with just as clear a response from industrialized agricultural polluters and their protectors in the state and federal legislature: The response is, No.

For example, Rep. Ron Kind (D-La Crosse) belched up some blather in a June Is Dairy Month column. Kind does not mention corporate dairy agriculture and its ongoing environmental assault against family farmers and Wisconsin communities, used to having family farmers living on the land

Living near vast industrial manure ponds would be an act of madness, and suicide of course. One reason why the owners of one and every four pigs, for example, in the United States are Chinese and living safely away from their rural American colonies.

Death by manure pond

In a repulsive illustration of the scale of polluting industrialized agriculture, summer brings death by dairy and swine manure pond that happens every year across the nation. The deaths are every bit as horrific as they sound: See Another dairy worker drowns in a manure lagoon in less than a year, Two Wisconsin men die in manure pit accident, Iowa father, son die from manure pit fumes.

I guess CAFO owner and manure pond creator, James Wysocki of central Wisconsin, can't be blamed for not living on the grounds of his Confined Animal Feeding Operations, (CAFOs).

The problem is Wysocki and Big Ag have no reluctance to vectoring liquid manure into area communities with the predictable consequences of poisoning aquifers and surface waters with a lot of help from Scott Walker and the DNR. Big Ag both pollutes and deletes ground and surface water.

Political protection

Kind's constituents include Wood and Adams county residents where agribusiness, (Big Ag), is proliferating and targeting the region for shock-and-awe treatment in pollution and depletion-of-water tactics.

The business plan is to change a way of life so completely that multi-generational residents will become repulsed and terrorized, and they'll move out of their communities and leave the area as a colony to Big Ag polluters.

Doesn't seem right.

In Wisconsin state government, Big Ag's tools, State Rep. Scott Krug (R-Nekoosa, Wisconsin) and State Rep. Joel Kitchens (R-Sturgeon Bay), work closely with Scott Walker and polluters to help on pro-pollution, effective political tactics.

One example is a March 31, 2016 appearance at Algoma City Hall in northeastern Wisconsin at which Krug and Kitchens told residents to contact the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR) to have their concerns about polluted water addressed, specifically the Ahnapee River, on Wisconsin’s Impaired Waters List.

Wisconsin's Republican attorney general working with the Republican governor and the Republican legislature has devastated the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources' ability to chronicle and respond to systemic attacks on safe and drinkable water so for Krug and Kitchens to suggest the DNR and feign no understanding of what their Party is doing is disingenuous.

Communities band together

I mentioned to clean water activists in central Wisconsin, that children being hospitalized and poisoned might finally elicit some spasm of conscience. The universal response: It's happened before and it won't matter to these people, [Big Ag].

Facing such inaction from state and federal government, communities have to monitor and document the devastation from liquid cow manure relying on citizen action.

Below is a video of decent central Wisconsin folk fighting a corporate-Republican assault on their way of life: