Civil judgment obtained against Kewaunee County farm for manure violations

KEWAUNEE COUNTY, Wis. (WBAY) - Wisconsin’s Attorney General has announced a civil judgment against a Kewaunee County concentrated animal feeding operation.

AG Josh Kaul says the judgment against Johannes Wakker requires him to pay a $225,000 penalty for the alleged violations at Wakker’s Kewaunee County CAFO.

“Mismanagement of manure can lead to water contamination and endanger public health,” said AG Kaul. “To protect safe and clean water, Wisconsin’s manure management laws must be followed.”

The complaint states Wakker violated provisions of his wastewater discharge permit between Nov. 2017 and April 2020.

The complaint described these violations:

• On 20 occasions, manure spread on Wakker’s farm fields either ran off the application site or discharged to waters of the state, such as a stream or a wetland, through subsurface drains.

• On 5 occasions, Wakker failed to minimize or prevent adverse impacts of discharges to waters of the state.

• On 11 occasions, manure spread on Wakker’s farm fields ponded on the application site.

• On 2 occasions, Wakker spread manure through an area that could concentrate the manure into a flow channel.

• On 2 occasions, manure spread on Wakker’s fields migrated from one part of the field to another.

• On 1 occasion, Wakker spread manure within 25 feet of a conduit to navigable water.

• On 1 occasion, Wakker failed to timely submit a report to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) describing the events that led to a manure discharge to waters of the state.

“In addition, Wakker failed to submit a nutrient management plan to DNR that identified all the environmentally sensitive areas within several farm fields he sought approval to spread manure on,” reads a statement from the DOJ.

The settlement was approved by the Joint Committee on Finance in April 13, 2022.