To the editor,

Wisconsin recently joined a Top Ten list and I’m not talking football. We’re now among the top ten states for the amount of animal waste generated by factory farms. 

The current system, in place to protect our water resources from this unprecedented amount of raw waste, was written in part by factory farm lobbyists in Madison. 

With millions of gallons of raw waste spread by factory farms on thousands of acres in Pierce County, and as these factories seek expansion permits, township supervisors throughout the county are organizing volunteer grassroots committees to study and pass legal Operations Ordinances. The ordinance, passed recently with a unanimous vote in Maiden Rock Township, is not a ban. Instead, it establishes an open process with the factory to address community concerns about our water, our roads, our property values and our public health. 

Elsewhere around the state, in places like in Kewaunee County with 17 factory farms, brown water flowed from kitchen faucets. Is that Pierce County’s future too?

Statewide nearly 30% of Wisconsinites drink water from private wells. In Pierce County 38% of residents drink water from private wells. In Maiden Rock township every household drinks water from a private well. It’s time to join our grassroots township movement, time to tell your county and state representatives from both political parties to wake up and support common sense Operations Ordinances. United, we form a powerful voting block.

Mary Anne Wise

Maiden Rock Township