From Marcia Elsner
Brodhead
To the editor:
On Thursday, April 6, I attended the Green County Land and Water Conservation Committee meeting where the members voted unanimously (although most said they really didn't have a choice), to approve Todd Tuls' Pinnacle Dairy permit to build a factory farm consisting of 5,800 cows. The location of this property is near Searles Creek in Sylvester Township. Searles Creek leads to the Sugar River. Sugar River leads to Decatur Lake. A manure spill could be catastrophic.
Todd Tuls, from Nebraska, owns another factory farm, Emerald Sky, in Emerald, Wisconsin. This dairy holds 1,700 cows which they want to increase to 6,000. In December of 2016 there was a massive manure spill at that location. This spill was not reported by Emerald Dairy. The Department of Natural Resources only found out about the spill due to an anonymous tip on March 29, 2017.
When questioned by citizens at the meeting Thursday, Todd Tuls said they had missed the monthly inspection by a couple of days, and that was the reason they didn't notice the spill. More like three months of inspections. He also said the snow cover hid the spill during that time. T.J. Tulls, who would be overseeing Pinnacle Dairy looked at the crowd and shouted, "It was an accident. Haven't you ever had an accident?" Reporting a manure spill to the DNR is required by the permit issued by state and local authorities.
The manure from Pinnacle is going to be transported across Green County roads to be distributed on land that may be near your home, or town. Can we afford to have more "accidents?"
In my opinion, if you are going to be conscientious factory farmer, it is your responsibility to follow all the rules and regulations, and to make sure you do no damage to the environment, or the residents. What do you think Green County? Do we want these people coming here? Can we trust them to do no harm? Residents within 2. miles of the proposed Pinnacle Dairy have 30 days to appeal the decision. Please, make your voices heard.
Brodhead
To the editor:
On Thursday, April 6, I attended the Green County Land and Water Conservation Committee meeting where the members voted unanimously (although most said they really didn't have a choice), to approve Todd Tuls' Pinnacle Dairy permit to build a factory farm consisting of 5,800 cows. The location of this property is near Searles Creek in Sylvester Township. Searles Creek leads to the Sugar River. Sugar River leads to Decatur Lake. A manure spill could be catastrophic.
Todd Tuls, from Nebraska, owns another factory farm, Emerald Sky, in Emerald, Wisconsin. This dairy holds 1,700 cows which they want to increase to 6,000. In December of 2016 there was a massive manure spill at that location. This spill was not reported by Emerald Dairy. The Department of Natural Resources only found out about the spill due to an anonymous tip on March 29, 2017.
When questioned by citizens at the meeting Thursday, Todd Tuls said they had missed the monthly inspection by a couple of days, and that was the reason they didn't notice the spill. More like three months of inspections. He also said the snow cover hid the spill during that time. T.J. Tulls, who would be overseeing Pinnacle Dairy looked at the crowd and shouted, "It was an accident. Haven't you ever had an accident?" Reporting a manure spill to the DNR is required by the permit issued by state and local authorities.
The manure from Pinnacle is going to be transported across Green County roads to be distributed on land that may be near your home, or town. Can we afford to have more "accidents?"
In my opinion, if you are going to be conscientious factory farmer, it is your responsibility to follow all the rules and regulations, and to make sure you do no damage to the environment, or the residents. What do you think Green County? Do we want these people coming here? Can we trust them to do no harm? Residents within 2. miles of the proposed Pinnacle Dairy have 30 days to appeal the decision. Please, make your voices heard.
