Clean Wisconsin issued the following statement after filing a response in opposition to the Legislature’s motion to intervene in two cases concerning permits issued by the Department of Natural Resources. The statement was made by staff attorney Evan Feinauer:
“The Legislature does not have a right to intervene in these cases. Even when considering the legislation passed during the lame duck session—laws which have been successfully challenged and are currently under review by the Supreme Court—the law does not allow the Legislature to intervene in administrative review cases like these. The Court should reject this request.”
The Wisconsin Department of Justice also asked the Court to deny the Legislature’s request to intervene in these cases.
In the first case, Clean Wisconsin argues that the permit DNR issued to Kewaunee County-based CAFO Kinnard Farms fails to include important conditions to limit farm size and require the farm to monitor groundwater quality near manure spreading sites.
In the second case, Clean Wisconsin is challenging DNR’s decision to issue permits for proposed high-capacity wells despite knowing that those wells would harm surface waters.
