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Two factory farm groups have filed a lawsuit over the DNR’s authority to require CAFOs to apply for permits under Wisconsin’s water pollution permitting program. The lawsuit threatens to eliminate critical environmental oversight of Wisconsin's largest livestock operations.

The DNR has finalized a wastewater discharge permit that limits the expansion of Door County’s only CAFO. S & S Jerseyland Dairy had been seeking a permit to more than double in size, from 5,000 to approximately 10,000 cows. The final permit, which limits future expansion to half the number of animals proposed by S & S, represents a significant improvement over an earlier draft version that drew widespread criticism from community members.

Check out our June newsletter to learn about a federal court order requiring Enbridge to shut down Line 5 within three years and pay millions to the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Plus the latest on a controversial PFAS spending bill, new efforts to protect rural communities from the harmful impacts of concentrated feeding operations, and much more!

Supporters of a PFAS bill under consideration in the Legislature say it would provide much-needed aid for communities impacted by so-called “forever chemicals”, but the bill could end up leaving Wisconsinites worse off. That’s because the bill contains troubling provisions that would limit the state’s enforcement authority and shift the cost of cleanup from polluters to taxpayers.

Today, nearly a dozen Wisconsin environmental and public health groups joined MEA in submitting a comment letter to the EPA urging the agency to move forward with the process of establishing the first nationwide standards for PFAS in public drinking water.

In our May newsletter, we take a look at a legal settlement involving MEA clients and one of the state's largest livestock facilities, how spring flooding in northern Wisconsin could lead to a catastrophic oil spill, why a $125 million PFAS proposal is being met with cautious optimism, and much more!

Today, six Kewaunee County residents represented by MEA announced a settlement with Kinnard Farms, Inc. and the Wisconsin DNR in a legal dispute over Kinnard's wastewater permit. The operation—one of the largest CAFOs in the state—has agreed to withdraw a legal challenge to the permit and to install processing technology designed to eliminate the disposal of liquid manure on agricultural fields.

Read our April newsletter for all the latest, including DNR's denial of a permit for giant hog CAFO, an appeal to the U.N. by a Tribal coalition over Canada's support for Line 5, a new MEA podcast, plus lots more!

Join us at noon on April 14 to learn what the federal government is doing to limit PFAS in drinking water and what EPA's proposed water quality standards would mean for drinking water in Wisconsin.

Check out our March newsletter to learn why we filed a motion to intervene in a Polk County CAFO lawsuit, what new federal limits on PFAS could mean for Wisconsin, why we're urging state officials to consider the climate impacts of Enbridge's Line 5 proposal, and much more!