The legal battle continues over a Kewaunee County dairy farm's efforts to obtain a water pollution permit in order to expand its operation. Last week, Kinnard Farms in Casco filed a lawsuit claiming state regulators should not have the right to place certain restrictions on the concentrated animal feeding operation when it was granted a wastewater permit in March. That's despite a July 2021 Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling that permitted the Department of Natural Resources the right to impose operating conditions on large farms and consider high-capacity wells' cumulative environmental impacts when deciding whether to grant permits.
The complaint, which was filed last Friday in Kewaunee County Circuit Court, alleges that the DNR's actions make it hard for the farm to operate because of the costs involved with complying with the conditions of its permit. Kinnard Farms also feels the state should have allowed for a case hearing to settle the issue.
As Wisconsin Ag Connection reported last month, the DNR said it would limit the number of cattle Kinnard Farms could house at no more than 11,369 animal units, which is the equivalent of 8,000 cows. It also requires that the dairy monitor at least two sites where manure is applied. The farm's owners are proposing to expand to about 15,000 cows.
The dairy was originally granted an expansion permit in 2012, but it was contested by neighbors who feared the dairy's manure would contaminate their groundwater. That led to many back-and-forth court battles that ultimately reached Wisconsin's highest court last summer.
Categories: Wisconsin, General