ASHLAND, Wis (WSAU-Wheeler News) The state D-N-R plans to decide this week whether to require a major environmental impact statement for what would be Wisconsin’s largest hog farm. The federal E-P-A has already said it would review the proposed Badgerwood facility near Ashland, proposed by Reicks View Farms of Lawler Iowa.
In a front page Sunday story the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel introduced the rest of Wisconsin to the project — as well as objections from local officials and residents who fear that pig manure would seep into Lake Superior. The firm plans to house over 26,000 pigs, sows, and boars. It would raise female pigs to maturity and send them to farms in Iowa. A company official said it wants the northern Wisconsin location because it’s far away from other heavy hog production areas, where there’s a bigger risk for spreading animal diseases. It would spread about 6.8-million gallons of liquid manure each year on more than 800 acres in a pair of watersheds that flow into Lake Superior.
There are no other mega-farms close by, although the D-N-R said an existing dairy in Iron County is getting large enough to be classified that way. Bayfield and Iron counties each approved one-year moratoriums on large-scale farms, after catching wind of the proposed $17-million dollar hog farm. Ashland’s mayor says algae blooms from the possible runoff could hurt Chequamegon Bay, which provides the city’s drinking water.
The E-P-A got involved after local Indian tribes raised water concerns.
