Don’t Drink the Water!

Paul Leline, Board of Directors, Door County Environmental Council

The people of Door and Kewaunee Counties need to get control of the continuous threat of contamination to our groundwater. A number of people in Kewaunee and Door counties are finding that their wells are contaminated. The reason? Water contamination from the spreading and spilling of manure, application of fertilizers and other chemicals, and seepage of human waste from septic systems.

Manure seems to be the largest threat. Just the tremendous volume of it is staggering; millions of gallons of untreated liquid manure are being trucked around and spread in our counties daily. It carries a host of bacterial forms and other toxic substances, and this is being spread, untreated, upon the most geologically sensitive landscape in Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) has an advisory program that includes a Nutrient Management Program (NMP) that farms use to create their own nutrient management plans to follow. This program plan organizes and manages the “how much, where, and when” questions of applying manure and fertilizing nutrients to the soil within the approved state standards of “nutrient load” levels on the landscape.

Creating a nutrient management plan is an important and positive step for the farmer and the environment; however, the adherence and proper execution of the manure spreading plan is unclear and unverifiable. In Kewaunee and Door counties, with the Niagara karst formation bedrocks and shallow soils, we live in the most sensitive water runoff area in the state. On the geological state soil map, our counties are color-coded red (looks like a big sore thumb sticking out of the State of Wisconsin), warning us of our landscape’s inability to safely absorb water runoff, as well as liquefied waste products. I think nutrient management plans are a good idea and should be totally verifiable by third party observations, particularly for this area of the state. And especially for the industrial-sized mega farms that seem to be a growing threat to water quality.

Comparing human waste to cow waste quickly brings the problem into focus. One average human produces about 4.3 pounds of waste per day, whereas the average cow produces about 120 pounds per day. That’s about 30 times more waste per day than a human. Kewaunee County has a cattle population of more than 42,000 and a human population of 20,500. Human waste, for the most part, is treated and deemed “safe” before returning to the environment, but not so for cows and other animals. With 42,000 cows and the population increasing, the waste they produce per day is equal to that of a human population of approximately 1,260,000 people. And that waste is being spread, untreated and liquefied, upon this fragile area daily.

We have run out of room and we are, in my estimation, reaching crisis level. This waste is now being trucked up from Kewaunee and spread daily in some areas of rural Door County – that’s in addition to our own animal population’s waste from approximately 22,000 cows (equivalent to 660,000 people) in Door County.

We seem to only take notice when there is another violation: when a raw sewage lagoon’s levee breaks, or a family gets sick from drinking their water, or a beach is closed due to high E. coli levels, or antibiotic-resistant bacteria infects a person. Most of us would probably say, “Stop! Not in my backyard.” But the fact is that this contamination is flowing “underneath” all of our backyards.

We need to demand enforcement of the rules that are designed to prevent or at least reduce the contamination of our fragile landscape and our fresh drinking water. Prevention, that includes the observed and verifiable compliance to the NMP rules, seems the only solution. With today’s technology (computerized schedules, mobile GPS devices) we could monitor and verify safe practices continuously.

The days of the small, sustainable farms are fading and being replaced by large, industrial-sized, unsustainable animal operations. Animal feed is being trucked in from far distant locations, but the waste products remain here and are soaking in all around us. The nutrient recycling process is incomplete and unsustainable. I believe the true costs to our communities, from unsafe waste management, are now being realized: undrinkable water, sickness and disease, loss of tourism dollars, decline in property values, closed beaches.

Can you imagine the ramifications to our community if tourism drops from fear of unchecked contaminated drinking water? What will happen to Door County if tourists are scared away by unsafe water?

It’s time to act before it’s too late. What can a person do?

1. Have your family’s well water tested for waste contamination and other common toxins.

2. Call the people in charge. The Wisconsin DNR, the county Soil and Water Conservation Department, the Public Health Department, the EPA.

3. Tell them you want real enforcement of a Nutrient Management Program that addresses the special needs of this area with real consequences for non-compliance.

4. Call Governor Walker and tell him you want the DNR to be allowed to exercise increased enforcement capabilities that involve an effective and verifiable Nutrient Management Program.

I believe this situation in Kewaunee and Door Counties is silently rising to a critical level. Authorities are giving the green light to increasing herd sizes, but the regulation and enforcement of a waste management program is weak and needs compliance right now. Join the movement to protect our clean water.

The Door County Environmental Council is one of the sponsors of the well water-testing program that has been helping residents of the Door County townships learn the conditions of their wells. The program is helping to anonymously determine the scope of our groundwater problems by creating a baseline data assessment of the current situation. We could use your help by having your well anonymously tested and encouraging others to do the same.