St. Croix County to study impact of expanding of animal feeding operations
By LeAnn R. Ralph
HUDSON — The St. Croix County Board has approved forming a study group to assess impacts to water resources in the county.
The St. Croix County Board held a public hearing December 6 on a proposed ordinance for a six-month moratorium on new large livestock operations or the expansion of existing operations along with forming a study group to assess the effects on groundwater and surface water.
Following the public hearing, the county board amended the ordinance for a moratorium on the establishment or expansion of large livestock facilities and changed it to a resolution to form a study group without a moratorium.
The St. Croix County Board convened into open session at 9 a.m. and spent much of the morning listening to presentations from county staff about various aspects of large livestock facilities.
The public hearing convened at around noon, continued until 12:30 p.m., and then resumed again from 1 p.m. until shortly after 2 p.m.
The county board room at the St. Croix County Government Center was filled beyond standing room only for the public hearing. A separate room with live-streamed video of the county board meeting was available to seat another 20 people who were interested in hearing the proceedings.
Many of those who spoke at the public hearing were representatives for large dairy operations, including Bomaz Farm, Jon De Farm and Emerald Sky Dairy, and were opposed to setting any kind of moratorium.
Concerns about the effects of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations on groundwater and surface water intensified after a proposal by Emerald Sky Dairy to expand the facility.
Emerald Sky Dairy, formerly known as Emerald Dairy and formerly owned by John Vrieze, has been sold to Todd Tuls, who owns large dairies in Nebraska and in Rock County near Janesville.
The new owner of Emerald Sky Dairy is requesting a conditional use permit to increase the number of animal units to 8,804.
A dairy cow represents 1.4 animal units, so the proposed expansion would translate into 6,289 cows.
Before Emerald Sky Dairy could expand, the facility would need a conditional use permit from St. Croix County.
Emerald Sky Dairy’s current conditional use permit allows up to 3,400 dairy cows, or 4,760 animal units, and the existing operation has 2,460 animal units, or 1,757 dairy cows.
Since Emerald Sky has submitted an application to St. Croix County for the expansion, the dairy is already “vested” in the right to expand and would not have been affected by the moratorium.
Kewaunee
Problems with wells in Kewaunee County associated with CAFOs have increased concern about the safety of groundwater and surface water in other parts of the state, including St. Croix County.
A June 3 legislative audit report on the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources referenced wastewater permitting and enforcement. In Kewaunee County, south of Door County and east of Green Bay, there are 16 large dairies. A random sample of 320 wells revealed that 34 percent of those wells were contaminated with bacteria or unsafe levels of nitrate. The DNR failed to issue citations in 94 percent of those cases, according to the report.
Kewaunee County has “karst” bedrock made up of soluble rock, such as limestone, dolomite and gypsum, which allows contaminants to migrate more easily into the groundwater.
A number of areas in St. Croix County also have karst bedrock.
Enforcement
Several people who spoke at the St. Croix County Board’s public hearing expressed concern that in light of recent budget cuts, the state Department of Natural Resources no longer has enough personnel to monitor large livestock operations and to enforce regulations.
DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp recently announced a plan that would allow private companies paid by large livestock operations to write the permits for the farms instead of DNR personnel writing the permits.
Under the new procedure for CAFO permits, DNR personnel would still review the permits.
The St. Croix County Board received a petition September 6, 2016, signed by 283 residents of St. Croix County asking the county board to pass a two-year moratorium on CAFO sitings and expansion until the “numerous and well-documented” threats to public health and safety could be assessed.
The county board’s community development committee, on a vote of three “yes” to two “no” recommended that the county board adopt an ordinance establishing a six-month moratorium to give the county time to study the impacts to groundwater and surface water and to determine what, if anything, the county should do to protect the health, safety and welfare of St. Croix County residents.
The study group authorized by the St. Croix County Board is expected to determine, in the interests of adequately protecting public health, welfare and safety, whether amendments to the county’s zoning ordinance are needed, whether a livestock facility licensing ordinance is needed and to determine whether the county has adequate resources to enforce new ordinances.
Amendment
County Board Supervisor Agnes Ring offered the amendment to the ordinance to change it from an ordinance establishing a moratorium to a resolution setting up a study group.
St. Croix County already has tools in place with the county’s resource management plan and the county’s comprehensive land use plan and does not need a moratorium, Ring said.
During the public hearing, several people testified that a number of wells in the Town of Emerald have been contaminated with nitrates.
Several other people during the public hearing suggested that rather than CAFOs in St. Croix County being responsible for the nitrate contamination in wells, along with the associated cropland needed to raise feed for the cattle, that people using lawn fertilizer are equally responsible for the contamination.
According to information provided to the county board by UW-Extension, St. Croix County has 23,100 dairy cows and produces 425 million pounds of milk annually.
According to a report from the Environmental Protection Agency, a 1,000 animal unit dairy produces as much sewage as a city of 164,000 people.
Based on the EPA’s numbers, the number of dairy cows in St. Croix County produce as much sewage as 32 cities with 164,000 people in each city, or about 5.3 million people total.
St. Croix County has a total population of about 85,000.
County Board Supervisor Roy Sjoberg noted that St. Croix County recently spent $70,000 to fix a well in a county park that was contaminated.
Sjoberg said he wants safe groundwater and was in favor of the study group but also said he would support the amendment eliminating the moratorium.
Open meetings
Several county board members objected to the language in the amended resolution that placed an emphasis on large livestock operations.
Scott Cox, St. Croix County corporation counsel, said he was concerned that if the language in the document broadened the scope too far beyond the original emphasis on large-scale livestock facilities and farming practices that the St. Croix County Board would be in violation of the state’s open meetings law.
If the scope of the resolution went beyond what was stated in the original document, the county would have to start over again and publish another notice for a public hearing and then hold another public hearing before acting on the resolution, Cox said.
County Board Supervisor Sjoberg said that without a moratorium, the resolution to set up a study group needed a due date for the work to be completed.
Sjoberg suggested a six-month deadline with the option of extending the deadline by 90 days, if needed, for the study group to complete the work.
Consultants
Ronnie Williams, an agricultural engineer for Emerald Sky Dairy, said during the public hearing that he believed a study would be a good idea.
Williams said he had called Dunn County to offer his services, but no one from Dunn County has asked for his help.
“They don’t ask experts. They ask other people,” Williams said.
Williams’ comment prompted a St. Croix County Board member to say that St. Croix County would not want to be like Dunn County “and not talk to anyone who knows what they are talking about.”
Williams is, in fact, included on a list of resource people for Dunn County’s study group.
Dunn County passed a six-month moratorium on large livestock facilities in October and has formed a study group that has already started working.
Dunn County’s study group includes members of the PR&D committee; the chair of the Dunn County Health and Human Services board (or a designee); the county planner and zoning administrator; the county’s land and water conservationist; a representative from the the UW-Extension system; and interested Dunn County residents and property owners, at least three of whom derive their main income from livestock production.
Steve Rasmussen, chair of the Dunn County Board, named the citizen members of the study group at the Dunn County Planning, Resources and Development Committee’s November 8 meeting.
Citizen members include Dave Styer (Alfalawn Farm, Menomonie); Lee Jenson (Five Star Dairy, Elk Mound); Rachel Kummer (Rock Falls; dairy farmer); Randy Koehler (Rock Falls; dairy farmer); Kathy Stahl (Colfax; co-chair of the Lower Chippewa Invasives Partnership and a volunteer stream monitor); and Ron Verdon (chair of the Tainter Menomin Lake Improvement Association).
At the kick-off meeting of Dunn County’s study group November 30, Bob Colson, county planner and zoning administrator, reported that Rasmussen had compiled a list of resource people to act as consultants for the study group.
The consultants on Dunn County’s resource list include Dave McDaniel, PE, CAFO Design; Ronnie Williams, the agricultural engineer for Emerald Sky Dairy; Jeff Pessig, Advanced Dairy Systems; and Sheila Shilts, health issues.
At the kick-off meeting, members of the task force also agreed the study group should ask the state Department of Natural Resources to have a representative at their meetings.
Six months
St. Croix County Board Supervisor Judy Achterhof said she was not against CAFOs or large industry in general but that the ramifications of long-range impacts to water quality, combined with the effects of climate change, along with the state of Wisconsin not doing a good job of monitoring or regulation, made it especially important for St. Croix County to be vigilant.
St. Croix County’s study group is expected to report back to the county board within six months of the board’s January meeting with the possibility of a 90-day extension if necessary.
The St. Croix County Board has 19 supervisors.
The amendment to change the ordinance setting a moratorium to a resolution establishing a study group was approved by the St. Croix County Board with four supervisors voting “no.”
The amendment setting a deadline of six months to complete a report with the possibility of an additional 90 days was approved by the St. Croix County Board with three supervisors voting “no.”
The amended resolution establishing a study group was approved by the St. Croix County Board with four supervisors voting “no.”
