New dairy industry lawsuit has state farmers worried about tainted water; a lot of the problem is from ag activities

CAFOs produce tremendous waste.
(Photo by Amber Kipp, Unsplash)

Where there are cows, there's plenty of manure. And in Wisconsin, residents, including many farmers, don't want animal waste in their water systems. "Farmers are worried for statewide water quality and public health after the dairy industry filed a lawsuit to eliminate the only protection that Wisconsin has against contamination" from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs),  reports Ahna Renee Fleming of The Daily Yonder. "Some CAFOs can produce as much waste as a small city, but without comparable waste management infrastructure, rural communities face health, economic, and environmental hazards."

Wisconsin CAFOs must get a permit before disposing of manure and waste. "The lawsuit argues that the Department of Natural Resources exceeds their statutory authority by regulating CAFOs and their potential waste discharges rather than the actual amount of waste discharged," Fleming writes. "The Wisconsin Farmers Union released a statement in opposition, saying that this lawsuit could eliminate the 'primary source of environmental oversight of CAFOs in Wisconsin.'"

CAFOs are massive operations that produce tremendous waste. Adam Voskuil, lead agricultural attorney at Midwest Environmental Advocates, told Fleming, "I don't know that people always understand or appreciate the size of some of these things." Zach Raff, an economist at the Department of Agriculture, told Fleming: "A dairy operation that has 1,200 cows produces the same amount of waste as a city with about 46-47,000 people. . . .The difference is that cities have wastewater treatment plants, where there are filtration systems and health measures put in place to make sure that contaminants aren't reaching water bodies. That doesn't happen at CAFOs."

"According to a report by the National Association of Local Boards of Health, CAFO manure contains plant nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, but it also contains pathogens like E. coli, growth hormones, antibiotics, chemicals added to the manure or used to clean equipment, animal blood, silage leachate from corn feed, and copper sulfate used in footbaths for cows," Fleming reports. "The contaminants – nitrates and bacteria in particular – seep down to the groundwater. And when it rains, the contaminants run off directly into the surface water."

When ground and surface water get contaminated, the negative consequences for rural communities are profound, and Wisconsinites are particularly vulnerable. Voskuil told Fleming: "Wisconsin residents and communities rely on groundwater to a much higher level than most other states. . . . MEA receives calls regularly from folks around the state who are dealing with really dire circumstances as a result of these extractive industries. . . . The Wisconsin DNR has a Groundwater Coordinating Council that puts out a report. . . . [The report] has noted that nitrate contamination in groundwater is increasing in severity and frequency across the state. About 90%, maybe a bit more of it, is caused by agriculture in the state."