A Madison judge has ruled in favor of Clean Wisconsin in a lawsuit that requires the Department of Natural Resources to monitor groundwater near dairy farms in Kewaunee County.
In the case of Kinnard Farms, Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Jeffrey Boldt ordered groundwater quality monitoring, a limit on the number of animals at the facility and other conditions on the facility’s wastewater permit to address widespread concern about groundwater contamination in late 2014. Ten months later, DNR ignored that decision and stripped these sensible and necessary groundwater protection conditions from the permit, Clean Wisconsin said in a news release.
Dane County Judge Markson wrote: “The laws that provide structure and predictability to our administrative process do not allow an agency to change its mind on a whim or for political purposes. The people of Wisconsin reasonably expect consistency, uniformity, and predictability from their administrative agencies and from the Department of Justice.…DNR had no authority to reverse [its own final] decision. Its attempt to do so is without any basis in law, and it is void.”
The decision comes on the heels of a release of 65 DNR-facilitated workgroup recommendations for addressing groundwater contamination in Kewaunee County, including increased CAFO audits by DNR and revised regulations for land spreading manure in sensitive areas.
