The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources rejected Cumberland LLC’s proposal to build a 26,000-hog facility in Burnett County, near the Trade and Wood Rivers, tributaries of the St. Croix in northern Wisconsin, due to incomplete application materials.
The proposed operation submitted a final application for coverage under a water quality protection permit for CAFOs issued by the DNR known as a Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (WPDES) permit. CAFO WPDES permits are water quality protection permits designed to ensure proper storage and handling of manure from larger-scale livestock operations. The WPDES permit program does not have authority to address odor, noise, traffic or other issues not related to water quality.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources notified Cumberland LLC that the permit application filed three months ago has been denied because the company hasn’t documented it has enough land available to spread the 9 million gallons of manure and other waste the facility would produce each year, St. Croix 360 reports.
Cumberland submitted its second application in December after the first application was rejected for being incomplete.
The company owns little land itself, mostly the 40-acre parcel where the three barns, manure pits and other facilities would be constructed, the article said. Like similar operations, it plans to sign leases with other farmers to use their fields, potentially providing fertilizer for their crops.
Before the rejection, St. Croix 360 reports that Cumberland told the DNR for the first time that it is planning to spread about half its waste on the other side of the St. Croix River in Minnesota. But, the company did not provide the required information about where, or whether it had the necessary legal agreements with property owners.
The DNR warned Cumberland that major changes to the application could result in rejection. When the company failed to provide more information about these new plans, the DNR rejected the permit application. DNR said the application must be entirely resubmitted if Cumberland LLC intends to continue to pursue the permit.
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