Clean water, smart farming emerging as WI issues

I am happy to see that the growing need for strong public water regulatory enforcement and policy commitment is taking hold in Wisconsin - - awareness pushed by the continuing contamination of drinking water and nearby rivers and streams by expanding large-scale animal feeding and manure-producing operations given regulatory passes by Scott Walker's  business-friendly, donor-obeisant 'chamber of commerce mentality Department of Natural Resources.

People who follow this blog know these matters have been covered extensively here - - some examples here and here - - ad infinitum...

But props to activists organizing at the foot of the State Capitol this Saturday their second public display of the problems; below is the publicity they are sending around in advance.

MEDIA ADVISORY

THIS SATURDAY – 2nd Annual ‘Stink-In’ Comes to the Capitol Steps in Madison

20-plus local, state and national groups gather to oppose the impact of industrial animal operations; Call for change targets WI lawmakers

WHAT:   Stink-In on the Steps – A public assembly on the steps of the Wisconsin State Capitol. Twenty-seven state-based and nationally recognized organizations will address Wisconsin’s concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) crisis and its damaging impact on public health, water and air quality, natural resources, businesses, property values and rural community life.

WHEN:   Saturday, October 22, 2016 -- 10:00am CT

WHERE:   State Street steps -- Wisconsin State Capital Building, Madison, WI

WHO:   A coalition of community, environmental and agricultural groups, including Sustain Rural Wisconsin Network, Socially Responsible Agricultural Project , Organic Consumer Association, Kewaunee CARES, Midwest Environmental Advocates, Wild Rivers Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Family Farm Defenders, Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters, Sierra Club (John Muir Chapter), Humane Society of the U.S. (Wisconsin Agriculture Advisory Council), Wisconsin Farmers Union South Central and River Alliance of Wisconsin

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THE GOAL: A 5-Point Request

The ‘Stink-In’ coalition will call on members of Wisconsin’s State Assembly and State Senate to reverse the longstanding trend of failed CAFO oversight, faulty county and state CAFO permitting processes, and noncompliance with federal law to establish a healthier, more sustainable future for Wisconsin. 

The 5-point request to Wisconsin’s lawmakers is simple:  

1. Raise your awareness on the debilitating community impacts of the CAFO industry, locally and statewide  

2. Ensure that all regulations and safeguards are in place to protect both rural and urban Wisconsin communities from CAFO contamination threats

3. Support enforcement of health and environmental standards violated daily by many of the state’s CAFOs

4. Immediately focus legislation that corrects the flawed DNR rulemaking and lack of enforcement highlighted in the June 2016 Legislative Audit Bureau’s Report on the DNR’s Wastewater and Permitting Program 

5. Introduce and champion new legislation that protects drinking water from CAFO runoff and contamination statewide

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Media contacts:

Mary Dougherty, Farms Not Factories

651.253.9352 | info@farmsnotfa ctories.com

Stacy Harbaugh, Midwest Environmental Advocates608.251.5047, ext 1 | sharbaugh@midwestadvocates .o