Crawford Stewardship Project

Crawford Stewardship Project would like to raise concerns about the DNR acceptance of the Roth Feeder Pig Operation NMP as complete. We are further respectfully requesting that in addition to the Environmental Assessment currently being done by the Department an Environmental Impact Statement be considered. The primary concerns identified by our ex... perts remain: Too little land for too much manure: Many fields are already too high in phosphorus. Less than 200 acres for the manure from 1,700 animal units are high by all industry standards for manure applications. Terrain is steep: Run off from surface applied manure is of grave concern. The adjoining Boydtown Creek and Wisconsin River are rated as exceptional, outstanding and/or impaired resource waters of the state, warranting additional restrictions. Major heavy rain events are becoming routine in the area due to shifts in weather patterns. To allow a facility of this type to locate so near to these resources without careful study is to risk irreversible damage. Karst Geology: We recognize that our area's fractured geology can result in high vulnerability to contamination of our ground water. The geology of the land needs to be thoroughly scrutinized by an independent soil scientist and hydro-geologist before a facility with storage capacity of millions of gallons of liquid waste is located in the area. Neighbor Health: Safe drinking water is the right of our citizens. We are asking the DNR to protect our drinking water. Once polluted, our confined aquifer may be impossible to cleanse. Parts of the Roth farm are located in the atrazine prohibition area along the Wisconsin River known to be more susceptible to groundwater contamination. A well immediately down plume of the Roth Feeder Pig operation is already testing over the limit for nitrates. Engineering: NR 243 clearly states that the DNR will pre-approve engineering design of a facility before construction, but to our knowledge this was not done. Engineering inspections during construction appear to have ...Read More