Wisconsin Farm Reaches $215K Pollution Settlement

March 27, 2023

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A factory farm has agreed to pay the Wisconsin Department of Justice $215,000 to settle pollution allegations.

The Legislature’s finance committee is slated to approve the deal during a meeting last Tuesday. According to an analysis of the deal by the Legislature’s attorneys, the deal will settle allegations that Kinnard Farms improperly spread manure in Kewaunee and Door counties between 2018 and 2022, failed to timely submit an engineering evaluation for a feed storage area and failed to timely submit annual nutrient management plan updates.

The settlement also calls for Kinnard Farms to upgrade two waste storage facilities and a feed storage area.

The Kinnard operation includes 16 industrial farms with about 8,000 cows. The company has struggled with agricultural pollution for years as contaminants began showing up in private wells.

Kinnard Farms owner/operator Lee Kinnard said in a statement that the farms decided to settle rather than face a lengthy and costly dispute. He said the farms “look forward to pursuing state-of-the-art manure management technology.”

Topics Agribusiness Wisconsin Pollution

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