DNR issues WPDES permit for Emerald Sky dairy that allows for expansion
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
GLENWOOD CITY — The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has issued a Wisconsin Pollutant Elimination Discharge System permit that will allow Emerald Sky Dairy to expand.
The dairy, defined as a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO), currently has approximately 1,600 dairy cows, and the new WPDES permit will allow the dairy to expand up to 3,300 dairy cows.
Residents who live in the Town of Emerald have expressed concern about nitrate levels in well water that exceed the maximum limit recommended level for safe consumption, which is 10 mg/L (milligrams per liter) of nitrate.
Some of the wells have tested many times higher than the recommended limit. The well at the Emerald Town Hall, for example, which is across the road from Emerald Sky Dairy, has tested at five times the recommended limit of nitrate in the well water.
Those who spoke at a public hearing held last summer about Emerald Sky Dairy’s application for a WPDES permit that would allow the dairy expand, and those who have submitted comments to the DNR since then, are concerned that allowing the dairy to expand will contribute to even more groundwater contamination.
DNR officials have said they are acting within the authority granted by state statutes.
March 1
According to the DNR’s decision on the WPDES permit, the permit was issued on February 24 and is effective from March 1, 2024, to February 28, 2029.
WPDES permits are issued for five years at a time.
The drafter of the permit is Jeffrey Jackson from the Baldwin DNR office.
Emerald Sky Dairy, located on county Highway G in the Town of Emerald, currently operates with approximately 1,600 milking or dry dairy cows (2,397 animal units), and the dairy proposes to expand to 3,300 milking or dry dairy cows (4,620 animal units).
When operating with 1,600 dairy cows, Emerald Sky Dairy produces approximately 17.4 million gallons of liquid manure and process wastewater and 5,861 tons ([or 11.7 million pounds] of solid manure per year, according to the DNR.
If the dairy decides to pursue the proposed expansion to 3,300 dairy cows, Emerald Sky Dairy will produce an estimated 42.2 million gallons of liquid manure and process wastewater and 11,378 tons [22.76 million pounds] of solid manure.
With the current number of animals at Emerald Sky Dairy, the existing manure storage structures allow 409 days of liquid storage.
After the Emerald Sky Dairy expansion, the existing manure storage will allow approximately 239 days of liquid storage.
Wisconsin regulations require 180 days of manure storage.
The dairy has a total of 5,371 acres in the nutrient management plan (NMP), and the acres are rented or controlled by Emerald Sky Dairy through land contracts and are located in the St. Croix Towns of Baldwin, Emerald, Forest, Glenwood and. Springfield.
A small number of acres also are located in the Polk County in the Towns of Clear Lake and Black Brook, according to the DNR.
Petition
During the public comment period, the DNR received a petition signed by 145 people.
The organizers of the petition asked that monitoring wells be installed around Emerald Sky Dairy and in nearby fields where manure from the dairy is spread for the nutrient management plan.
The petition organizers also asked that cover crops be required to be planted in the fall, which use excess nutrients in the soil, and that crops should be rotated annually on fields in the NMP.
In addition, the petition organizers asked that Emerald Sky Dairy be limited to 1,700 dairy cows considering that the CAFO is located in an area of karst bedrock, which is susceptible to water contamination from field run-off.
Karst bedrock is associated with soluble rock types, such as limestone, that dissolves and creates sinkholes and caves and provides a conduit to the groundwater.
The petition organizers asked, too, that Emerald Sky Dairy be subject to quarterly manure spreading audits and that the DNR enforcement personnel visit more frequently because of Emerald Sky Dairy’s “history.”
Manure spill
A St. Croix County judge ordered Emerald Sky Dairy to pay $80,000 in forfeitures, surcharges and costs associated with a manure spill that occurred in a nearby wetland in December of 2016.
Manure leaked from a transfer pipe into two wetlands on site, including an open pond, flowed through a ditch around a Transition Management Facility barn to the stormwater pond, which then overflowed into another wetland.
Three months later, on March 28, 2017, St. Croix County received anonymous tips that a manure spill had occurred at Emerald Sky Dairy.
The next day, Steve Olson, a St. Croix County Land Conservation Use specialist, visited Emerald Sky Dairy, confirmed the manure spill, and told Elizabeth Griffith, Emerald Sky Dairy’s director of safety, to report the spill to the state Department of Natural Resources.
DNR staff took water samples and depth measurements of manure solids on March 31, 2017.
Manure solids in the open pond ranged from 13 inches deep to more than three feet deep, according to the civil complaint.
Hutton Creek
In December of 2019, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources issued a report concerning run-off in November from manure spread on a field by Emerald Sky Dairy that resulted in a localized fish kill in Hutton Creek.
According to an appendix to the report, liquid manure was being applied at a rate of approximately 11,000 to 13,000 gallons per acre, and the weather forecast indicated rain was expected within the next 24 hours.
The manure water traveled about 800 feet down the road ditch and then flowed into an intermittent section of Hutton Creek.
With further investigation of Hutton Creek downstream from Highway G, DNR personnel observed dead minnows about 30 feet from the bridge crossing. Species included central mud minnow, fathead minnow, creek chub and brook stickleback.
Water quality
Some of the comments received by the DNR about the Emerald Sky Dairy WPDES permit application expressed concern about surface water quality in the Willow River and St. Croix River watersheds.
Part of the DNR’s response is that “the department can only enforce existing rules and regulations currently in place. WPDES CAFO permits rely on production area discharge limitations to prevent unlawful pollutant discharges from the production area. This means the waste containment or storage structures are designed and sized to prevent unlawful discharges to navigable waters.”
The DNR response also notes that nutrient management plans are intended to reduce the risk of phosphorus and nitrogen run-off in surface water and in groundwater.
Some of the permit requirements are that manure cannot be applied to fields within 100 feet of a direct conduit to groundwater and cannot be spread within 200 feet upslope of a direct conduit to groundwater unless the manure is incorporated into the soil within 72 hours.
The permit also does not allow fecal contamination of a well.
In addition, manure cannot be applied to fields when snow is actively melting or on areas of a field where there is less than 24 inches of soil above the bedrock or on fields where the depth to the water table is 24 inches or less.
Groundwater
Many of the comments received about the permit application expressed concern about the groundwater and nitrate contamination of water wells and included claims that water contamination is being ignored by DNR officials.
As was previously stated, wells in the area have tested above the level of 10 mg/L of nitrate that is considered to be the “safe” upper level for human consumption and that the well at the Emerald Town Hall has tested five times above the safe level for nitrate.
The DNR responded, “the department takes potential water quality violations seriously and disagrees that information about contamination is being ignored. The department conducted follow-up investigations regarding the 2017 spill, and DNR staff investigated potential sinkholes in May 2023.”
The DNR response goes on to say that following permit requirements, including production discharge area limitations, following a nutrient management plan and developing a site-specific monitoring and inspection plan “are designed to prevent exceedances of groundwater quality standards.”
Even though the DNR response states that site-specific monitoring can be part of the solution for making sure groundwater is not contaminated, the DNR states, “groundwater monitoring wells are not required for Emerald Sky Dairy at this time.”
The DNR recommends that private well owners sample their well water every year for nitrate and bacteria, and that if private well owners suspect their well is contaminated with manure, they should call the DNR immediately.
The DNR response goes on to say, “In some cases, the department can provide an emergency source of water, technical assistance for well treatment or replacement options and/or financial assistance for well replacement.”
Grant program
According to the DNR’s website, the well compensation grant program provides a maximum of $12,000 for well replacement costs that exceed $16,000.
In general, the well compensation grant program provides funding for 75 percent of eligible costs up to $16,000
If the total amount to replace a water well is $10,000, the grant will provide $7,500.
The website also notes that any grant amount received by a well owner is considered taxable income by the Internal Revenue Service and is considered “other income.”
The website notes, too, that “if the claimant is concerned with how the receipt of the payment might affect their standing to receive food stamps, Medicare, or other such services or programs, the claimant may wish to check with a representative of that program or a social worker.”
Authority
Many of the comments submitted to the DNR about the Emerald Sky Dairy WPDES permit application ask DNR personnel to take certain actions to protect groundwater and surface water.
Part of the DNR’s response is, “The DNR implements the WPDES CAFO permit program in accordance with the authority provided by the state legislature under ch. 283, Stats., and with oversight by the US EPA. Conditions in WPDES CAFO permits are consistent with the authorities given and the requirements outlined in ch. NR 243, Wis. Adm. Code.”
One comment notes that a lack of adequate state funding has resulted in a reduction of DNR staff and excessive workloads for those who remain.
The DNR’s response is that the WPDES CAFO permit requires the operation to do self-monitoring and reporting of the production area and cropland area.
Jackson, the author of the Emerald Sky Dairy WPDES permit, according to the DNR website, is the wastewater specialist for CAFO operations in nine counties: Buffalo, Burnett, Douglas, Pepin, Pierce, Polk, St. Croix, Vernon and Washburn.
The DNR response also states, “In addition to self-reporting, department staff will conduct periodic inspections of the production area and cropland/manure spreading activities. Outcomes of these inspections help the department determine whether the permittee is complying with their permit.”
Groundwater report
The Groundwater Coordinating Council report to the Wisconsin Legislature in 2023 indicates nitrate can enter the groundwater from fertilizer, from animal waste and from septic systems.
The report notes that an analysis completed in 1994 concluded that approximately 90 percent of the “nitrogen inputs” to groundwater in the state can be traced to agricultural sources.
The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) and the Wisconsin Field Office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) surveyed private wells and found that 8.2 percent of the privates wells in the state exceeded 10 mg/L for nitrate.
When the surrounding “agricultural intensity” was reviewed, 1.7 percent of wells were over 10 mg/L when the surrounding land was “lightly cultivated,” but increased to 20 percent of the wells testing over 10 mg/L when the surrounding land was greater than 75 percent cultivated, according to the report.
The report also notes that evidence indicates nitrate contamination of groundwater has increased “in more locations over time rather than decreased.”
Cost
Data analysis from 2019 indicates that the number of private wells that exceed 10 mg/L in Wisconsin is estimated at more than 42,000, according to the report.
The cost estimate to abandon the contaminated wells and replace them would be more than $446 million, the report states.
The report shows an estimated 13,362 private wells in St. Croix County, and an estimated 12.2 percent, or 1,624 wells, over the 10 mg/L nitrate standard, with the cost to replace those wells in St. Croix County at $16 million.
Dunn County, to the east of St. Croix County, has an estimated 7,501 private wells, and an estimated 12.1 percent, or 906 private wells, over the 10 mg/L standard, with a cost of $6.65 million to replace those wells.
Baldwin DNR
Jackson, the WPDES CAFO specialist who wrote the Emerald Sky Dairy permit, does not oversee Dunn County, but in Buffalo County, which Jackson does oversee, 7.1 percent of the private wells are contaminated over the 10 mg/L standard, or 224 wells, at a cost of $1.67 million to replace them, according to the Groundwater Coordinating Council report.
In Burnett County, 1.2 percent of the private wells are over 10 mg/L for nitrate, or 82 wells, at a cost of about $500,000 to replace those wells.
In Douglas County, none of the private wells are contaminated over 10 mg/L for nitrate.
In Pepin County, 20.1 percent of wells are contaminated over 10 mg/L for nitrate, or 320 wells, at a cost of $2.48 million to replace them.
In Pierce County, 14.7 percent of the private wells are contaminated over 10 mg/L nitrate, or 689 wells, at a cost of $9.98 million to replace them.
In Polk County, 4.7 percent of the private wells are contaminated over 10 mg/L for nitrate, or 422 wells, at a cost of $3.75 million to replace them.
In Vernon County, 3.3 percent of the wells are contaminated over 10 mg/L for nitrate, or 142 wells, at a cost of $2.11 million to replace them.
In Washburn County, .8 percent of the private wells are contaminated over 10 mg/L, or 53 wells, at a cost of $340,000 to replace them.
In Jackson’s area for oversight of WPDES CAFO permits, according to the Groundwater Coordinating Council report, there are 3,556 wells that are over 10 mg/L for nitrate. The number of contaminated wells may give some weight to the comment that there are not enough DNR personnel and that those who are employed by the DNR have an excessive workload.
The cost to replace the wells that are over 10 mg/L for nitrate in Jackson’s oversight area is an estimated $37 million.
