Letter to the Editor: Not Here, Not Now, Not Ever

Here comes the holidays again. That usually means more driving, shopping, cleaning and cooking.

We expect to have our car start up in the cold, our credit accepted, and clean water to come out of our faucets. When any of these necessities are no longer available it will create pain, anxiety and havoc in our lives.

Our poor neighbors to the south in Kewaunee County are facing a cheerless holiday with wells that no longer produce clean water. When these unfortunate people turn on their faucets brown, fecal-contaminated water comes out. They will no longer enjoy the assurance that the water used in their home is not toxic, even if they replace their wells.

How long before this will happen to us who are enjoying the clean water in Door County?

One day the water coming out of our wells will be brown and unusable if we ignore how this is happening in nearby Kewaunee.

The cumulative impact of over 98,000 cows in a small, geographically sensitive Karst region must be taken into consideration from now on. There just isn’t enough land to spread all that manure on, and no way to know how much of this waste is entering our groundwater, lakes and waterways. The increasing “Dead Zone” in Green Bay is evidence of the current cumulative impact of farm waste as it enters the groundwater and streams, then drains into the bay.

More cows equals more manure equals more pollution. We really need to start thinking this way about CAFOs. Not here, not now, not ever.

Susan Marks, Door County Environmental Council member

Sturgeon Bay, Wis.