July 26, 2002

MEA Negotiates $51,250 Settlement in Clean Water Act Case
In the wintry weather of last February, the Maple Ridge Dairy (a livestock factory in Marathon County) spread 250,000 gallons of liquid manure on frozen ground. The manure ran off the field into a neighbor’s woods and a tributary to the Big Eau Pleine River, in violation of the Clean Water Act. In response, Midwest Environmental Advocates, representing the Sierra Club, filed a Notice of Intent to sue the facility. 

After successful negotiations with the facility, we reached a settlement agreement where the facility agreed to stop spreading liquid manure in winter and pay $51,250 to offset the cost of its harm to the environment. Of this amount, $28,500 went to the North Central Conservancy Trust to purchase agricultural buffers to prevent future agricultural pollution in the watershed. To learn more and hear Wisconsin Public Radio story on the settlement, see the Sierra Club v. Maple Ridge Dairy case in our Advocacy Archive.

Below is a photo of the manure that ran off into a neighbor’s woods in February of 2002.

Reducing Air Toxins
The largest municipal waste incinerator in Wisconsin is Xcel’s French Island incinerator in LaCrosse. This incinerator emits more dioxin than all the power plants in Illinois, and has been violating its permit terms since 1995. Midwest Environmental Advocates convinced the EPA to require the incinerator to reduce emissions and install better air pollution controls. This month the facility installed the first part of a $10 million retrofit. We await the results of pollution tests to see how the technology is working. To learn more, see the French Island Incinerator page in our Advocacy Archive.

Below is a photo of concerned LaCrosse citizens at a public forum featuring MEA on July 24, 2002.

Democracy in Action
MEA represented the Neighbors of the Town of Calumet in fighting for their property rights and quality of life at a June 19, 2002, zoning hearing on a new livestock factory. The town residents expressed opposition to the livestock factory and concern about potential odors and water pollution from the livestock factory.

Below is a picture of the Calumet Town Meeting.

For more information, contact Melissa K. Scanlan at mscanlan@midwestadvocates.org.

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