Local residents turned out at a Department of Natural Resources hearing Tuesday to express concerns about a proposed 900-cow dairy farm in Kewaunee County.
No one spoke on the record in favor of the expansion of the Augustian Farm. Instead, people talked about contaminated wells.
Joe Musial owns land along what he said was once a thriving trout stream.
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“It was a Class 1. Now it’s a nothing. It’s an open sewer,” Musial said, referring to the DNR’s system for rating trout streams.
If approved, the Augustian Farm would be Kewaunee County’s 16th concentrated animal feeding operation.
William Iwen called the DNR’s approval process a “sham” and “criminal.” He said if the agency approves the expansion, the owners should provide water treatment equivalent to municipal sewerage departments.
“And they pay for it, not the taxpayer. If they want all this money and all the privileges of pollution, damnit they should pay for it themselves,” Iwen said.
The DNR is taking public comment until Aug. 4.
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