CLEVELAND — The Department of Natural Resources has
determined that an environmental impact statement for Maple
Leaf Dairy, 6832 County Highway X, will not be necessary, and
will most likely re-issue the large dairy operations permit to
handle manure following a review process.
Not everyone agrees with the DNR’s opinion.
The DNR held a public hearing on the re-issuance to the
operation’s owner, Todd Leiteritz’s WPDES (Wisconsin Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System) permit on Thursday at Lakeshore
Technical College.
DNR attorney Charles Hammer said he cannot recall an
instance where the DNR denied a permit to a farming operation
in the past 30 years, but said the department would weigh
concerns raised against what conditions are placed upon that
permit.
According to Andrew Hanson, an attorney representing
Centerville CARES, a grassroots environmental group, outright
denial of the permit is what is required.
If the permit is not denied, Hanson believes the best
options are as follows: A complete environmental impact
assessment on Maple Leaf’s operation, including potential
growth issues (the DNR has never requested an impact statement
to be done on a farm, Hammer said), no spreading of liquid
manure on frozen fields or fields with tile lines that are
adjacent to waterways and a cap on how large the dairy can
grow.
According to the DNR, Maple Leaf presently has 3,550
animals at its main farm and at five satellite locations. The
new permit would last five years. Maple Leaf is presently
operating under a permit that expired on June 30, 2002.
The previous permit indicated the farm would grow to 2,000
animals at the largest. An earlier request for a permit
indicated Maple Leaf wanted to grow to 9,000 animals.
Leiteritz has since indicated they would like to delay the
expansion, according to the DNR.
A WPDES permit is issued once a farm reaches 1,000 animal
units, or about 714 to 715 milking Holsteins. The farm then
falls under certain guidelines outlined in the Federal Clean
Air Act. The DNR is contracted to monitor these farms and
regulations, including enforcement of the rules.
Speaking against the re-issuance of the permit, John
Roberts, a dairy veterinarian, part owner of a dairy farm,and
member of several environmental organizations, said he has
seen the results of “short-sighted business plans,” and how
they affect water quality and quantity.
Russ Tooley, president of CARES, lives about 1 1/2 miles
from Maple Leaf. Tooley listed many concerns about the farm
from abnormally high E. coli levels in waterways directly
downstream of Maple Leaf, to his finding that neither the DNR,
nor the Manitowoc County Soil and Water Conservation
Department nor the Manitowoc County Dairy Agent know how
Leiteritz plans to handle the manure.
Past “poor management decisions” are why Tooley said the
DNR should reject the re-issuance of the permit.
Paul Berge, longtime dairy veterinarian in Manitowoc
County, said his close work with farmers for so long has
taught him that farmers are often the best stewards of the
land.
The concerns he hears coming from people living near Maple
Leaf are not normal, he said.
“It’s not typical of what happens in the farming
community,” he said in an interview later Thursday. “(Being
good farmers) means being good neighbors as well. From day
one, (farmers) are part of the land. Their heritage is the
land. That’s why it is so surprising.”
Dan Schedler, representing a Grafton-area wastewater
treatment company that has been working with Leiteritz on the
manure handling issue, said Leiteritz is dedicated to going
above and beyond what is required of him under the law.
Schedler also called the spreading of manure “highly
regulated and documented,” and said it is “highly unlikely
Maple Leaf would do that in the face of such stiff penalties.”
Also speaking on behalf of Maple Leaf was Tom Wilson, an
agricultural financier, who said he has worked with Leiteritz
as a lender, and he doesn’t “work with businesses that aren’t
successful.”
Wilson said the investment Leiteritz has made on manure
handling equipment is substantial.
“The stakes are too high to not be that way,” he said.
People can send their comments to the DNR by sending them
to Bryan Ellefson, Ag Runoff Mgmt. Specialist, Oshkosh Service
Center, 625 E. County Road Y, Suite 700, Oshkosh, WI
54903-2565. For more information, call Ellefson at (920)
303-5426.
Neil Rhines: (920) 686-2105 or Nrhines@htrnews.com
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