Local residents and small farmers say safe roads and clean water come before factory farm and shareholder profits

Pierce County, Wis. — Nearly 100 people from Pierce and surrounding counties gathered in Bay City on Thursday, May 29, to share why they are fighting back against factory farm expansions in Western Wisconsin. Among those present were the 5 local petitioners who joined Grassroots Organizing Western Wisconsin (GROWW) in a legal challenge of Ridge Breeze’s permit to grow to 6,500 cows, provoking the ire of industry groups.

At the event on Thursday, the petitioners and other attendees alike shared their reasoning behind standing up for their homes and opposing the factory farm expansion. Kay Kashian is a case petitioner and resident in the Town of El Paso. She considers living on the Rush River a dream come true. “I feel like I didn’t have to die to go to Heaven,” said Kashian. “But I live just two and a half miles from Ridge Breeze – downwind, downhill, and downstream. A lot of us are scared about what Ridge Breeze’s expansion would do to our homes.”

The legal challenge is based on concerns around Ridge Breeze’s ability to safely apply roughly 80 million gallons of liquid manure that would be generated by their expansion. Thousands of acres in the expansion plan call for overapplication of nutrients and appear to have incorrect tillage listed, which could lead to substantial harm to groundwater. On top of this, area residents have been concerned about inaccuracies in Ridge Breeze’s plan for manure spreading. Multiple landowners whose land has been listed for spreading have come forward to state that they never gave Breeze permission to use their land.

“With 80 million gallons of waste, this is a countywide problem,” said Larry Brenner, one of the petitioners in the legal challenge and owner of Vino in the Valley in the Town of El Paso. Brenner’s home and business are near fields listed by Ridge Breeze for manure spreading. “My biggest concern for myself is that the Rush River is going to be in danger. Everything runs downhill, and we know where that manure is going to end up. I’m concerned about my wells, too. I’ve got a home well and a business well. Who’s going to pay for it if my wells go bad in just a few years time? What about all the traffic on the roads when they pick up hauling? Who pays for the roads? We all do. It’s coming, and we’ve got to try and stop it.”

GROWW Executive Director, Jenelle Ludwig-Krause, lives between Baldwin and Spring Valley and spoke on behalf of the organization. “I want to live in a world where I can trust a glass of water and jump into the Rush River without a care in the world. I want that for me, I want that for my family, and I want that for each and every one of you here tonight. When a factory farm is producing this much manure, we know that things can go wrong.” GROWW launched membership in January and has over 200 members across Western Wisconsin so far.