All 20 Kewaunee County Board members on Tuesday approved a public health and groundwater protection ordinance limiting winter and early spring waste spreading on thin soils over karst bedrock.
The measure passed despite opposition from the Dairy Business Association and other major Wisconsin agricultural groups that called it illegal.
The Center previously reported on the ordinance, which is intended to keep waste — including manure, plus industrial and human waste — from contaminating groundwater in particularly vulnerable areas.
The earlier story: Bad wells spur Kewaunee County to mull waste spreading restrictions.
When soils are thin, they are less likely to effectively filter surface water heading down to the aquifers. Winter, when most groundwater is recharged by rainfall or surface waters, is the riskiest period. Thirty percent of the county’s wells have tested unsafe for bacteria or nitrates, with higher percentages in the towns that have the thinnest soils.
The DBA was joined in opposition by the Midwest Food Processors Association, the Wisconsin Pork Association, the Wisconsin Cattlemen’s Association, the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association, the Wisconsin Soybean Association, the Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association.
In a Sept. 18 letter, the agricultural groups said the county did not have the authority to pass the ordinance and said it should have been submitted to the state for approval. And they said the ordinance was unnecessary because the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources already regulates groundwater pollution.
The ordinance is now set to undergo a series of town referendums in the spring. It will be administered only in those towns where a majority of voters approve it. The towns with the most shallow soils are Lincoln, Luxemburg, Casco and Red River, according to Kewaunee County conservationist Andy Wallander.
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