County Board to vote on whether to extend CAFO moratorium
By Ted Pennekamp
A possible vote on whether or not to extend the one-year Confined Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) moratorium enacted by the Crawford County Board is on the agenda for the board’s Dec. 15 meeting.
The moratorium is scheduled to expire on Dec. 31. It was adopted by the board on Dec. 17, 2019 and went into effect on Dec. 31, 2019. The moratorium was adopted amid citizen concerns over the proposed Roth Feeder Pig II CAFO in the town of Marietta.
Many Crawford County residents, as well as organizations such as the Crawford Stewardship Project and Midwest Environmental Advocates have spoken against the proposed CAFO within the past two years.
After the moratorium was adopted, a CAFO Study Group was formed in order to gain more information about the CAFO and possible environmental impacts.
On Sept. 8, the Land Conservation Committee voted 3-2 not to recommend a one-year moratorium extension to the full county board. In discussion prior to the vote, County Conservationist Dave Troester reported to the committee that almost 40 citizens had participated in a “Community CAFO Dialogue,” the prior week, with no pro-CAFO advocates participating. Extending the moratorium was very popular among the citizens at the CAFO Dialogue, said Troester.
During the Oct. 20 County Board meeting, the CAFO Study Group gave a presentation to the board. The purpose of the CAFO Study Group Report is to provide scientifically defensible findings of fact. Scientifically defensible findings of fact are needed should the county decide to get approval from the Wisconsin DNR and/or the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection in order to enact a more strict ordinance than the state’s livestock facility siting ordinance.
County Conservationist Dave Troester, Forest Jahnke of the Crawford Stewardship Project, and Community Development Educator Jessica Spayde presented different portions of the report which discussed agricultural vulnerabilities in Crawford County regarding CAFOs, natural resource vulnerabilities, karst and groundwater susceptibility, rainfall trends, economic vulnerabilities, community concerns, public health concerns, and regulatory gaps.
The report recommends further study of Crawford County regarding CAFOs. It also discusses possible county actions or opportunities for the county board to protect the sensitive ecology of the county’s water and other natural resources.
Options included relying on current regulations, increasing conservation outreach and education, updating the livestock siting ordinance, enacting more stringent livestock siting standards, enacting operation ordinances, updating animal waste storage ordinances, enacting ordinances or rules outside of livestock facility siting, implementing county zoning, promoting large-scale livestock operations oversight at the township level, and funding groundwater and surface water studies.
In addition to citizen concerns, four municipal governments in Crawford County have either signed a resolution or have written a letter calling for an extension to the county’s CAFO moratorium. On Monday, Nov. 2, the village of Gays Mills unanimously voted to support the resolution, as did the town of Clayton on Monday, Nov. 9. The town of Marietta and the town of Scott voted to send a communication to the county board calling for an extension to the moratorium.
Also, on Nov. 23, Midwest Environmental Advocates submitted a formal request to the DNR on behalf of more than 200 Crawford County residents who are asking the DNR to prepare an environmental impact statement before issuing permits for the construction of the Roth Feeder Pig II CAFO.
Roth Feeder Pig II has submitted its final application for coverage under a water quality protection permit for CAFOs issued by the DNR known as a WPDES permit. CAFO WPDES permits are designed to ensure proper storage and handling of manure from larger-scale livestock operations. The WPDES permit program does not have authority to address odor, noise, traffic or other issues not related to water quality.
Design plans and specifications and the nutrient management plan have been conditionally approved for this project.
The final application contains the operation’s proposed design plans and manure application practices. The operation would house approximately 960 gilts under 55 pounds, 2,008 gilts over 55 pounds, 5,144 sows and 48 boars. This would be equivalent to 2,980.8 mixed animal units. The operation anticipates 9,427,053 gallons of liquid manure to be generated annually and 1,295 acres to be available for manure application.
Structures at the site would include three barns, a composting building and an equipment shed. A gestation barn and gilt development unit barn will have underbarn concrete manure storage facilities while a farrowing barn would have a concrete manure collection tank with a transfer system directing manure to the gestation barn.
Crawford County hasn’t received any livestock siting permit applications this year. Any such applications would come before the Land Conservation Committee which would vote to either approve of the permit or deny it.
The Land Conservation Committee cannot act on a livestock facility permit application until the current moratorium expires.
A one-year moratorium extension would give the CAFO Study Group and others more time to find the scientifically defensible findings of fact needed in order for the county to enact a more strict ordinance than the state’s livestock facility siting ordinance, should the county choose to do so.
County Conservationist Dave Troester said he is not entirely sure what proof would be needed as scientifically defensible findings of fact to show the DNR and/or the Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection in order for the county to enact a more strict ordinance.
“As far as what proof would be needed, that is the million dollar question,” said Troester. “The short answer would be that it would have to be proven that the current regulations are not sufficient to protect our water quality.”
Troester noted at the Oct. 20 County Board meeting that the Driftless Area Water Study (DAWS) was scheduled to begin on Monday, Oct. 26. DAWS involves 100 samples from wells in Crawford, Vernon and Richland counties. The results of the study will be known in four to six weeks, said Troester.
“One of the justifications given last year for passing the moratorium was that it would allow us to collect some baseline data (DAWS) to get a basic idea of the quality of our drinking water,” said Troester.
