An attorney for a Wisconsin environmental group involved in two lawsuits before the state Supreme Court says both cases have far-reaching impacts for the environment and public health. The state Supreme Court this week heard arguments in Clean Wisconsin’s lawsuits arguing that the DNR can require factory farms to monitor groundwater impact and limit the number of animals and consider high-capacity wells’ cumulative groundwater when issuing well permits. Clean Wisconsin attorney Evan Feinauer says the first lawsuit could define the DNR’s ability to regulate factory farms, focusing on a mega dairy farm in Kewaunee County that wanted to nearly double it’s herd of 6,000 cows. The second lawsuit involves high capacity wells in Wisconsin’s central sands region where department experts had said new wells would put drinking water at risk and worsen problems of lakes and streams drying up. “This is a big deal because in Wisconsin we have a proud history of protecting these waters,” Feinauer told WFDL news. “They don’t belong to anybody. They’re not private property. These lakes and rivers belong to all Wisconsin residents.” Arguing on behalf of the Legislature, attorney Eric McLeod said the DNR may regulate only those things explicitly authorized by lawmakers, and they did not approve the conditions under dispute. McLeod said any specific permit conditions must derive from a law or administrative rule approved by the Legislature.
