The Jon De Farm, near Baldwin in western Wisconsin’s St. Croix County, has spilled both manure and leachate (from a feed bunker) into the Rush River.  The spill apparently occurred on November 10.  At least 1000 gallons of manure entered the Rush.  An undetermined amount of feed leachate has also been leaking into the river for some time.

When such accidents occur, state law requires the responsible party to verbally notify authorities within 24 hours and to also do so in writing within 5 days of the event.  Farm owner Dean Doornick ignored this requirement, apparently hoping the frozen river would wash away his problem.  He will likely receive a fine for both the spills and his notification actions.

The spills occurred at a delicate time for Doornick who is in the process of requesting DNR approval for expansion of his factory farm.  Doornick wants to expand his operation to 2690 animal units, which would include 1570 milking cows.  His current facility houses 1430 animal units, of which 670 are milking cows.

Perhaps more importantly, for those concerned with environmental impacts, Doornick’s application calls for a huge increase in his manure storage capacity.  The John De Farm already had three manure storage ponds providing 6.4 million gallons of storage.  The expansion permit calls for another 8.5 million gallon manure pond.

The DNR’s public hearing on Doornick's proposal will take place on December 14, at  11 a.m in the Coachman Club in Baldwin.

According to the DNR’s Duane Popple, the manure spill wasn’t the only problem they found at the Doornick farm.  Evidence is being collected that points towards erosion control violations (from improper construction practices) and overgrading of the property, as allowed for by permit.

All of this might have gone unnoticed except for the personal vigilance of a concerned citizen.  Harold Fosmo, a Spring Valley resident and protector of the Rush River, has long been critical of Doornick’s operating habits.

On November 20, suspecting a spill had occurred, Fosmo took an iron bar and went down to the frozen Rush.  “I punched a hole through the ice and took some samples,” he says.  Testing revealed phosphorus levels of 7.3 in the river (most rivers run less than 2.0) and coliform levels  of 3100 (the normal range is about 400).

Fosmo alerted DNR staff who then went to the farm and found its operator quietly trying to clean up the spill.  The manure and the leachate both initially ran into a stream on the property, then into a wetland, and finally across a ravine and into the Rush River.  The wetland remains contaminated with the manure and the leachate with DNR staff trying to determine whether to let it flush itself out or to pump it out during the winter weather, consequently killing much of the wetland’s life.

Fosmo complains that Doornick has a history of sloppy practices.  He charges the factory farm operator frequently ignores guidelines prohibiting manure spreading within 200 feet of a navigable water.  He also says Doornick refuses to employ buffer strips to control run-off and overspreads his land with manure.

Fosmo’s love for the Rush has deep family roots.  His great-grandfather immigrated to western Wisconsin from Norway.  Decades ago, the elder Fosmo hauled brown trout to the Rush in milk cans as part of early fish stocking activities.  ‘My kids,” Harold fondly mentions, “are the 5th generation to stock trout.”  He says most everyone in the area feels a particular affection towards the Rush.

To better protect the Rush River, Fosmo helped form a local chapter of the Izaak Walton League.  He has been talking with local Trout Unlimited members about working together on a united citizen monitoring program for the river.  The intention, says Fosmo, “is to isolate where the problems are.”  He also wants the DNR to step up their monitoring activities.

As for Doornick, Fosmo says the farmer must improve his soil conservation practices.  “I think we have to watch him close.”

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