Suit filed over manure runoff

By Peter Rebhahn
prebhahn@greenbaypressgazette.com

Lawsuit A copy of the lawsuit filed against Stahl Farms on Tuesday can be downloaded by following the link under “New at MEA” at http://www.midwestadvocates.org/.

LUXEMBURG — A dispute over alleged manure runoff south of the village is headed to federal court.

“As far as we can tell, Stahl Farms is still polluting,” said homeowner Judy Treml. “They haven’t stopped, and they’ll continue unless we go to court and get that operation cleaned up.”

Scott and Judy Treml, E758 Church Road, filed the lawsuit Tuesday — the day a 60-day Notice of Intent to Sue they presented Stahl Farms in April expired.

Stahl Farms, E389 Luxemburg Road, is a large dairy farm that last July received a state permit to operate a farm that exceeds the state’s 1,000-animal-unit threshold.

The Tremls allege that manure spread on Stahl Farms fields beginning in late February polluted nearby School Creek and began showing up in their well a few days later, sickening the couple and their three daughters and forcing them to import water donated by the village of Luxemburg.

Andrew Hanson, an attorney for the Tremls, said the family had nochoice but to go to court.

“Their response to our letter was wholly inadequate,” Hanson said.

Stahl Farms attorney David Crass had not seen a copy of the lawsuit on Tuesday and declined to comment on its specifics pending review of the contents.

But Crass said the Tremls’ lawsuit was problematic in the face of a “Notice of Violation” issued by the state Department of Natural Resources against Stahl Farms in May after a review of the evidence in the case.

“The lack of such diligent prosecution is normally the reason for a citizen lawsuit, so we’ll ask the judge to deal with this issue,” Crass said.

Among the remedies sought in the lawsuit are fines of $25,000 per day or more for alleged violations of state and federal pollution laws by Stahl Farms stretching back as far as 1997.

“More than anything, we probably need to take the field across from the Tremls off the map for manure spreading,” Hanson said. “The risk is too great, especially under frozen conditions.”

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