Washington County, WI—On Wednesday, November 26, Midwest Environmental Advocates initiated legal action after the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) issued a permit allowing Rob-n-Cin Farms—a large dairy farm located in the Town of Trenton in Washington County—to become a permitted concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO).
Midwest Environmental Advocates (MEA), a nonprofit environmental law firm, filed a petition for a contested case hearing on behalf of Milwaukee Riverkeeper and a group of neighbors living near Rob-n-Cin’s three production facilities.
Rob-n-Cin, which has been operating as a CAFO for several years without a permit, plans to expand its herd from approximately 1,300 dairy cows to approximately 2,000 dairy cows. After the expansion, Rob-n-Cin would produce more than 18 million gallons of liquid manure every year, which would be spread on farm fields in eastern Washington County and western Ozaukee County.
DNR approval comes after prolonged community opposition amid concerns over negative impacts to water, air, roads, and small farms. Those concerns intensified after the DNR discovered that Rob-n-Cin had already expanded without authorization, prompting an investigation by the agency.
MEA submitted comments during both comment periods outlining deficiencies in the permit, including inadequate environmental review, lack of groundwater monitoring, the absence of written manure spreading agreements, and the broader implications of issuing a permit to a farm that has a history of flouting the law.
Milwaukee Riverkeeper also submitted comments to the DNR detailing concerns about inadequate oversight and questioning Rob-n-Cin’s ability to safely manage such a large amount of manure in a region where groundwater, trout streams, and wetlands are already vulnerable to contamination. In particular, the farm’s operations are likely to impact Cedar Creek and dozens of streams that drain to the Milwaukee River, as well as the Cedarburg Bog—one of one of southeastern Wisconsin’s largest and most ecologically intact wetlands and a designated State Natural Area and National Natural Landmark.
“We are challenging the permit because it does not adequately protect local surface water and groundwater from being contaminated by the large volume of manure that Rob-n-Cin would produce and spread throughout the Milwaukee River Basin,” said Cheryl Nenn, the Riverkeeper at Milwaukee Riverkeeper.
The DNR acknowledges that large CAFOs like Rob-n-Cin cannot completely eliminate groundwater and surface water pollution. Under state law, however, a permit may be issued as long as the level of pollution doesn’t violate state water quality standards. Despite that requirement, the Rob-n-Cin permit includes no groundwater monitoring at the production area or at manure-spreading sites.
“State law is clear that the DNR is required to affirmatively determine—not merely assume—that Rob-n-Cin’s manure-spreading plan will not violate groundwater quality standards. Without off-site groundwater monitoring, there’s simply no way to obtain the data necessary to make that determination,” said MEA Senior Staff Attorney Adam Voskuil.
The DNR will now review the petition and decide whether to grant the petitioners a contested case hearing.
