CAFO regulation needed

A dairy business lobby is going to court demanding that the industry be freed from Wisconsin’s requirement that large animal operations, meaning more than 700 animals, no longer undergo permitting scrutiny as to how they would dispose of the millions of gallons of manure they produce (“Suit could limit DNR authority over CAFOs,” Aug. 9).

If the Wisconsin Dairy Business Association prevails, large dairy and cattle feeding operations wouldn’t need approval from the Department of Natural Resources as to how they handle the manure that they generate. Conceivably their actions could pollute lakes, streams and drinking water wells before anyone is aware or could take action to stop it.

They are hoping to have the regulatory authority stripped from the DNR and given to counties that have less staff and expertise in the management of animal waste than the DNR, which is itself grossly understaffed. With the DNR gone, the counties would be the only entity to both permit and monitor CAFOs’ manure storage and disposal systems using less demanding local ordinances.

When will Gov. Scott Walker and his Republican legislators step up to protect the citizens of this state and the resources that belong to all of us from the ravages imposed by industries that have no regard for the well-being of their neighbors or the health of our environment but only the profits they can earn? When is enough enough?

Jerry Hanson Elkhorn