Submitted by Kim Dupre, Emerald Clean Water for All
EMERALD, WI – After several dozen citizens weighed in during a public comment period against the renewal/expansion permit in July 2023, Wisconsin DNR reissued the permit and authorized a doubling of the size of Emerald Sky Dairy from 1,700 to 3,300 cows early last week.
At 1,600 cows, the dairy is estimated to produce approximately 17.4 million gallons of liquid manure/process wastewater and 5,861 tons of solid manure per year. After the proposed expansion, the dairy is estimated to produce approximately 42.2 million gallons of liquid manure/process wastewater and 11,378 tons of solid manure per year.
During the Emerald Sky Dairy public comment period DNR received a petition signed by 145 people. As part of the petition, organizers called for the following: Monitoring wells surrounding the facility and nearby spreading fields. Cover crop and crop rotations yearly (this will absorb nutrients not taken up by summer growing season and reduce runoff into area waters). Implement a cap of 1,700 animals allowed in this karst bedrock region that is highly susceptible to water contamination from field runoff. Quarterly manure spreading audits. More frequent visits (quarterly) by DNR enforcement personnel due to the history of this producer.
Citizen concerns are reflected with a historical record of this industrial dairy including: E.coli outbreaks in private wells. A spill of 275,000 gallons into area wetlands in 2016 – $80,000 fine from Wisconsin DOJ. History of fish kills from manure runoff into streams in 2019 – $65,000 fine from WI DOJ. Private wells that are undrinkable due to high nitrates. High phosphorus levels in spreading fields that runoff to create green lakes in the area. See Figure 1.
Signage at the town hall warns against drinking the water. When the new town hall well was first completed in 2007, the nitrate level was below the public health standard of 10 parts per million (ppm) at 6.9 ppm. Over the subsequent 16 years, nitrate levels have escalated as high as 62 ppm and consistently test over three times higher than the public health maximums. Per St. Croix County data, two of the highest recorded nitrate samples are located within 1.5 miles of Emerald Sky Dairy. They are surrounded by continuous corn that receives manure and fertilizer annually according to the NMP. This producer could help reduce nitrates by rotating crops and incorporating cover crops on as many acres as possible. These two measures would make a difference. See Figure 4.
WI Green Fire states, “Elevated Nitrate levels in drinking water are a long-known cause of health risks in infants including birth defects and methemoglobinemia (blue-baby syndrome). More recent evidence makes clear however that elevated nitrate levels pose health risks for adults of all ages. Health effects associated with nitrate exposure include hematologic disorders, cardiovascular disorders, elevated cancer risks including bladder, ovarian, and thyroid cancers.” Both the Centers for Disease Control and the state of Wisconsin say no one should drink water with more than 10 mg per liter of nitrate.”
In a recent St. Croix County survey of citizens for their Comprehensive Plan Update, nearly 100% of respondents identified groundwater and surface water quality (including wetlands) as a high priority for protection.
In the State of the Lake: Assessing Lake St. Croix 2018 (latest report), “In 2006, the States of Wisconsin and Minnesota signed an agreement to reduce phosphorus loading to Lake St. Croix by 20% by the year 2020, which became the basis for an interstate Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Project, accepted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2012 (MPCA & WDNR 2012)… Data presented in this report indicate that the 2020 TMDL goals will be challenging to meet because of wet and dry cycles, as well as spatial and temporal variability in the following factors: internal loading of total phosphorus, clarity, and algae – all of which are challenging to manage in the watershed… Currently (2018), Lake St. Croix is dominated by floating algae, including blue-green algae that can produce toxic blooms (Smith et al. 2018).”
So through it all, local citizens are left with ongoing contamination of local surface water and drinking water supplies and more than several questions with few answers. “Financial impacts in buying bottled water, even for pets, and having visitors call ahead of time to see if homeowners have tested their water prior to a visit… that is the real life consequence of such neglect by our government officials,” Emerald resident Virginia Drath relayed.
“Promises given 25 years ago that this industrial dairy would not negatively impact our neighborhood have not been kept. Government made this decision, not residents, to site this facility in the midst of a rural residential neighborhood. Thus, Government should own their decision and fix it,” said Kim Dupre, former Emerald resident. “The disconnect between lived realities of area residents and the DNR policy-speak is unacceptable. Public Health and safety need to take priority. Such disconnect weighed heavily in my family’s decision to leave our home of 20 years in Emerald.”
For questions or additional information and references, please contact Kim Dupre, PR Coordinator, Emerald Clean Water For All; p: 651.491.2575; e: duprekk@gmail.com.
St. Croix 360 article credit: Pollution plagued Factory Farm Permitted to Double in Size – stcroix360.com/2024/03/pollution-plagued-factory-farm-permitted-to-double-in-size/.
