Rosendale Dairy wants to expand

ROSENDALE - Rosendale Dairy is at the middle of an uproar again.

Now the mega-farm wants to amend an existing permit and double the number of dairy cows it has to 8,000. Earlier this year some residents opposed the farm growing to 4,000 cows. The reason is because with dairy cows comes manure and waste water. Some residents are worried about contaminated water.

"What could be more life sustaining than water and our water is in jeopardy,” said Elaine Swanson, who represents the People Empowered Protect the Land of Rosendale (PEPL). “When you jeopardize our water, you jeopardize our lives."

Many worry the farm won't manage the manure properly, and it will trickle down to drinking water in the area. However, Jim Ostrom from Rosendale Dairy says the company has a plan in place to make sure nothing is contaminated.

“We take our environmental responsibility extremely seriously and it just makes good sense to protect the environment and to take good care of our community and we intend on doing that,"

Swanson says if the permit is approved, the farm will produce more biological waste than every city in Wisconsin except Madison and Milwaukee.

"I think it's appalling and outrageous that the DNR is issuing a permit to allow this spreading of untreated liquid manure,” Swanson said. “This is toxic waste."

Ostrom says the waste will be being properly handled. He even added the farm expansion will create jobs and provide fertilizer for local farmers.

“We're able to provide the neighborhood with about ten percent of the nutrients that the local farmers are going to need, so it's kind of a win-win situation," said Ostrom.

The Department of Natural Resources will hold a public hearing Thursday in Ripon and says it will hear all concerns. The meeting will be held at Royal Ridge, 1 Westgate Drive, at 5 p.m.