St. Croix County Community Development Committee forwards resolution for 2-year statewide CAFO moratorium
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
HUDSON — The St. Croix County Community Development Committee has forwarded a recommendation to the county board to support a resolution calling for a two-year statewide moratorium on Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs).
If the county board approves the resolution, it would be forwarded to the Wisconsin Counties Association to lobby the state legislature about passing a two-year statewide moratorium, said Daniel Hanson, chair of the community development committee, at the August 20 meeting.
The resolution approved to be forwarded to the St. Croix County Board is the same resolution adopted by Bayfield County.
Tim Stieber, St. Croix County resource management administrator, said he had no position one way or the other on the resolution.
The number of CAFOs statewide has doubled, but St. Croix County had five CAFOs in 2005 and has six in 2020, he said.
Some of the St. Croix County CAFOs have expanded, representing a growth of 2.2 percent over 15 years, Stieber said.
The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection considered CAFO rules in 2010, 2014 and 2016, but no changes were made, he said.
In 2019, DATCP asked for a public response to livestock operation siting rules and held meetings to get public comment. The effort was shut down, however, and no changes were made, Stieber said.
The Bayfield County resolution addresses livestock operation siting rules but does not address the rules under which CAFOs operate, he said.
The operation rules for CAFOs and for smaller operations are what has caused problems with pollution, Stieber said.
All CAFOs are required to have Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits (WPDES), and of the six CAFOs in St. Croix County, three are operating under current permits and three are operating under expired permits. If the CAFO is going to expand more than 20 percent, a new WPDES permit is required, he said.
When a permit expires, the CAFO operates under the old permit until a new permit is issued. The state Department of Natural Resources is experiencing difficulty in keeping up with the CAFO permits, Stieber said.
Farming practices are responsible for 90 percent of the nitrate levels in drinking water and also contribute to high phosphorus levels in surface water, he said.
In St. Croix County, 11 percent of the wells are above the safe limit for nitrates, and three-quarters of the county is under a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) limit for phosphorus, Stieber said.
Problems with nitrates and phosphorus come from CAFOs and non-CAFOs, he said.
The six CAFOs in St. Croix County account for 10,400 animal units, and the non-CAFO farming operations account for 39,600 animal units. In other words, 20 percent of the animals in St. Croix County are in CAFOs and 80 percent are in non-CAFOs, Stieber said.
The pollution is coming from agriculture, but there is no good scientific information about exactly where the pollution is coming from, he said.
St. Croix County has 100,000 acres of corn and 50,000 acres of soybeans which contributes to problems with phosphorus and nitrogen, Stieber said.
Resolution
Stieber said he would like to see a resolution asking the WCA to lobby the state Senate to take up 13 water bills that have already been passed by the state Assembly.
The 13 bills that have been drafted deal with items such as providing technical assistance to counties and establishing a nitrate reduction pilot program, he said.
Hanson said the issue of the 13 bills not addressed by the state Senate would have to be on the agenda for the September meeting and that the community development committee could not consider moving forward with such a resolution at the August 20 meeting since the item was not on the agenda.
In 2016, there was a strong interest in a moratorium on CAFOs. The county board very nearly approved a moratorium, and that is how the water quality study group began, Hanson said.
The problems are not only with Emerald Sky Dairy, and the community development committee does not want to single out one operation, he noted.
Judy Achterhof, committee member, said she was in favor of forwarding the Bayfield County resolution to the county board.
St. Croix County residents are still concerned about the issue, she said.
If the resolution is forwarded to the WCA, it will convey that St. Croix County is concerned, and “we need to put people first,” Achterhof said, adding that she hoped state legislators realize they cannot keep ignoring the issue.
The St. Croix County Community Development Committee unanimously approved a motion to forward the Bayfield County resolution asking for a two-year statewide moratorium on CAFOs to the St. Croix County Board with the recommendation that it be forwarded to the Wisconsin Counties Association.
