From Nana Schowalter
Town of York
To the editor:
Tuls Pinnacle Dairy recently placed a full-page ad in the Monroe Times praising the environmental practices of large-scale dairy operations in Wisconsin. The ad assumes the public should feel confident that our water is protected by the requirements the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources places on these Confinement Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO). (1000-5000-plus cows)
The facts are the DNR, under Gov. Scott Walker, is under-funded, understaffed, and incapable of handling even 5 percent of the complaints of CAFO pollution to local waters. The constant struggle of the residents of Kewaunee County to seek help has largely gone unanswered by a DNR ill-equipped to handle the volume of complaints of tainted private and municipal wells.
Multimillion dollar corporate milk producers attempt to move their operations into areas that will provide the natural resources that allow them to profit. They seek out communities that have no local environmental ordinances. They have moved across the country as those resources are used up, and the water becomes polluted. Starting in California, through the plains, and now into Wisconsin.
The environmental concerns are important to all who live here, farmers and residents equally. We all drink the water.
The economic concerns will have an enormous impact to existing family dairy farmers as the local milk market becomes over stocked. This will cause family farmers to have to compete with the wealthy corporate dairy model, a competition that the local farmers will find hard to win.
The Green County Land and Water Conservation Committee currently is managing the Tuls Pinnacle Dairy application process. They are doing a thorough job of requiring full review of the application, and addressing the environmental impact of a CAFO on our water. The proposed manure spreading permits show that the enormous amount of waste will cover a large area of southern Green County. For a map of these permits see, pinnacledairyproblem.com. You can also find out more information about the impact of CAFOs on this site.
What can you do? Contact your Green County supervisor and let them know your concerns. Find your representative at co.green.wi.gov. Consider asking them to address the idea of a countywide CAFO ordinance to protect our water resources.
Contact your township representatives and ask them how you can participate in protecting local water resources.
Help protect our local Green County family dairy farmers.
Town of York
To the editor:
Tuls Pinnacle Dairy recently placed a full-page ad in the Monroe Times praising the environmental practices of large-scale dairy operations in Wisconsin. The ad assumes the public should feel confident that our water is protected by the requirements the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources places on these Confinement Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO). (1000-5000-plus cows)
The facts are the DNR, under Gov. Scott Walker, is under-funded, understaffed, and incapable of handling even 5 percent of the complaints of CAFO pollution to local waters. The constant struggle of the residents of Kewaunee County to seek help has largely gone unanswered by a DNR ill-equipped to handle the volume of complaints of tainted private and municipal wells.
Multimillion dollar corporate milk producers attempt to move their operations into areas that will provide the natural resources that allow them to profit. They seek out communities that have no local environmental ordinances. They have moved across the country as those resources are used up, and the water becomes polluted. Starting in California, through the plains, and now into Wisconsin.
The environmental concerns are important to all who live here, farmers and residents equally. We all drink the water.
The economic concerns will have an enormous impact to existing family dairy farmers as the local milk market becomes over stocked. This will cause family farmers to have to compete with the wealthy corporate dairy model, a competition that the local farmers will find hard to win.
The Green County Land and Water Conservation Committee currently is managing the Tuls Pinnacle Dairy application process. They are doing a thorough job of requiring full review of the application, and addressing the environmental impact of a CAFO on our water. The proposed manure spreading permits show that the enormous amount of waste will cover a large area of southern Green County. For a map of these permits see, pinnacledairyproblem.com. You can also find out more information about the impact of CAFOs on this site.
What can you do? Contact your Green County supervisor and let them know your concerns. Find your representative at co.green.wi.gov. Consider asking them to address the idea of a countywide CAFO ordinance to protect our water resources.
Contact your township representatives and ask them how you can participate in protecting local water resources.
Help protect our local Green County family dairy farmers.
