A Wisconsin judge ruled Tuesday that state regulators can force factory farms to obtain permits before they discharge pollutants, according to the Associated Press, ensuring protections continue to apply preemptively for lakes, streams, and drinking water.
Calumet County Circuit Judge Carey Reed issued the decision from the bench in a lawsuit brought by factory farm lobbyists, finding the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has clear legal authority to protect the state’s waters.
Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the state’s largest business group, filed a lawsuit in Calumet County in May on behalf of the Wisconsin Dairy Alliance and the Venture Dairy Cooperative, two groups that lobby for factory farms.
The groups challenged the DNR’s authority to impose mandates through factory farms’ water pollution permits such as monitoring groundwater pollution levels, implementing manure management plans, and limiting herd sizes.
The plaintiffs alleged that federal courts in 2005 and 2011 struck down the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to require factory farms to obtain permits before they actually discharge contaminants into navigable waters. The groups’ interpretation would have allowed factory farms greater freedom to increase herd sizes and contaminate state waters with chemicals such as nitrates and phosphates from manure and other fertilizers.
Reed sided with the DNR, pointing to a section of state law that declares Wisconsin policy calls for restoring and maintaining the integrity of its waters to protect public health and aquatic wildlife.
