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St. Croix County fines Pinnacle Dairy owner
Pinnacle 2
A storage building that has stood for months at the site of Pinnacle Dairy facing Decatur-Sylvester Road is one of several to soon be in full use by the farm once construction is completed. Engineers expect to be finished by mid-July. Owner Todd Tuls plans to begin milking cows by the end of June. - photo by Marissa Weiher

SYLVESTER TOWNSHIP — The owner of a newly constructed large-scale dairy operation in Green County was recently fined for violating a condition of the construction permit granted to Emerald Sky Dairy in St. Croix County.

In a letter from the county Community Development Department, Land Use Technician II Sarah Droher wrote to Pinnacle Dairy owner Todd Tuls of Rising City, Nebraska to inform him May 2 that the location he owns under construction in the Town of Emerald should not have been in use.

According to the letter, staff from the department found on April 30 that workers “pumped animal waste in to the facility, without an operation permit.” The act was a violation of condition no. 2 of the construction permit, which specified that the applicant needed to gain an operation permit from the county before using the facility. This violated both the permit condition and St. Croix County code regarding animal waste storage facilities. The misuse resulted in a citation of $389.50. Tuls was also ordered to remove all contaminated soils according to the facility’s nutrient management plan with conservation staff onsite to verify the results with the project engineer. 

According to court records, Tuls appeared in St. Croix County Circuit Court and pleaded no contest June 27. He was ordered to pay the full amount by Aug. 6. It was paid that day, according to court records.

Tuls is the owner of Pinnacle Dairy on 127 acres along County FF and Decatur-Sylvester Road in Sylvester Township. The concentrated animal feeding operation holds nearly 6,000 cows.

Emerald Sky Diary, which Tuls purchased from a former farmer with what his son T.J. Tuls said was in need of improvements due to age, has had issues with manure before. In late March 2017, a spill was anonymously reported after a cap in an underground transfer line between two holding structures broke, releasing manure for about three months. 

T.J. Tuls, Todd’s son, said at the time that the neglect was the result of a manager who did not inform the owners about the incident. He had added that the manager was fired as a result of a continued failure to follow protocol. The leak was contained to a stormwater pond at the site, T.J. Tuls said at the time.