Wisconsin Judge Sends Ridge Breeze Permit Back to DNR

Administrative Law Judge Angela Chaput Foy found that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources had approved an environmental permit that did not demonstrate compliance with the state’s groundwater-quality requirements. Her decision sends the permit back to the agency for revision.

The permit would allow Ridge Breeze Dairy in Pierce County to increase its herd nearly fourfold, from roughly 1,700 animals to 6,500. At that scale, the operation is expected to produce close to 80m gallons of liquid manure and process wastewater each year.

Foy’s ruling focused on the absence of a system for checking whether the dairy was meeting the groundwater standards cited in the permit. Although the DNR required compliance, it did not require monitoring wells or another verifiable mechanism that could generate data on possible violations. The agency must now add binding monitoring requirements to the permit.

The case was brought by Midwest Environmental Advocates for Grassroots Organizing Western Wisconsin and five Pierce County residents. The challenge followed the DNR’s approval of the operating permit for the proposed expansion.

Groundwater conditions were central to the ruling because western Wisconsin contains karst terrain, where fractured bedrock can allow runoff to move quickly into aquifers. The decision also referred to testing showing that about 14% of private wells in Pierce County exceeded Wisconsin’s nitrate enforcement threshold of 10 milligrams per litre.

Ridge Breeze cannot proceed with its expanded livestock operations under the order until the DNR revises the CAFO permit to include the required safeguards. The ruling concerns the permit’s monitoring and verification provisions rather than a final determination about whether the expansion will operate.