La Crosse Tribune
HIXTON,
Wis. — A large livestock operation and its neighbors are settling a
federal lawsuit over manure runoff into local trout streams.
A
group called Concerned Farmers and Neighbors of the Town of Hixton sued
Sedelbauer Farms Inc. in July 2004 in federal court in Madison. The
group claimed the cattle operation is polluting tributaries of the
Trempealeau River and Tank Creek.
Under the agreement, which must be approved by the court, Sedelbauer agrees to build short-term manure storage by 2007.
The
storage will prevent manure discharges into the tributaries, which the
group's attorney estimated could cost $500,000 to $750,000.
Also,
Sedelbauer will make a $3,000 contribution to Wisconsin Trout Unlimited
for trout protection in those streams and pay civil penalties, attorney
fees and costs associated with the lawsuit, estimated at $40,000 total.
"We're
glad that Sedelbauer will take these steps to prevent its manure
discharges, but we're disappointed that we had to go to federal court
to make it happen," said Clayton Nelson, a member of the group.
"Thank goodness we stopped these manure discharges before there was a fish kill."
"When
we balanced the cost of going to trial against constructing short-term
manure storage for our solid pen pack manure, it was a no-brainer to
simply resolve this matter," Lynn Sedelbauer, owner of the farm, said
in a statement. The state Department of Natural Resources "is revising
the rules right now which will likely ultimately require us to do the
same thing."
The citizens group was represented by Midwest
Environmental Advocates of Madison, while Sedelbauer was represented by
Michael Best & Friedrich LLP of Madison.
Reid Magney can be reached at (608) 791-8211 or rmagney@lacrossetribune.com.
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