Sustain Rural Wisconsin Network calls for moratorium on CAFO approval in the state.

Wisconsin citizens’ right to clean water, clean air and a good quality of life is endangered by water pollution frequently caused by agriculture. Wisconsin’s industrial agriculture industry generates more manure than crops can safely use as fertilizer leading to excess phosphorus and nitrate levels in the soil and groundwater. As a result, our local streams, lakes, and waterways are quickly becoming damaged beyond repair.

Therefore, we call upon Wisconsin to declare a temporary moratorium on the permitting and construction of new and expanding Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs).1 Before Wisconsin allows new construction or expansions of CAFO facilities, the state must provide a solution for our existing manure overload problem.  No facility should be allowed to pollute local waterways and groundwater without a set enforcement policy addressing the cleanup of contamination if a problem should arise.