MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Two farm groups have filed a lawsuit alleging that Wisconsin regulators can’t force factory farms to obtain pollution permits before they actually discharge pollutants into state waterways. If the Wisconsin Dairy Alliance and Venture Dairy Cooperative win the case, the state Department of Natural Resources would be stripped of its authority to impose preemptive restrictions on factory farms unless and until they pollute groundwater or other state waters. The two groups filed the lawsuit in May in Calumet County Circuit Court. They allege that federal regulations requiring factory farms to obtain a permit before actually polluting the environment were struck down in 2005 and 2011, which means the DNR’s permit requirements illegally conflict with current federal rules.
