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Letter to the Editor: Do No Harm

Having a private well report marked “Legal” does not mean your water is safe. The EPA is the agency that sets limits and updates them. Waiting for our EPA (Clean Water Act) to take action on this issue has not worked for the citizens of northeastern Wisconsin. What we all know is this: The best way to ensure clean water is to keep the pollution out of the source of the water, right?

We get that fields need nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Land stewardship involves application of the allowed amounts per acre onto and into our fields. You need to know what is already in your field before you can allow spreading, and all these numbers are based on what the next crop to be planted needs. You wouldn’t want to overapply and saturate the field, would you?

This is where your signed land-spreading contract protects you and your land. You are allowing liquid manure to be applied onto and into your land at volumes you’re not sure of (unless you restrict the amount per application – which you can and should do), along with not really knowing what is in that manure. Would you put it in your front yard and let the kids play on it?

Farming has created this issue, and farming can clean it up. I do not blame the cows; they have done nothing wrong. Could the answer to our problem lie with their owners? I hope so because lawyers seem like the last resort.

Richard Swanson

Algoma, Wisconsin