Some Door County residents fear that allowing a local dairy farm to expand its operations would harm the environment and local tourism.
Residents voiced concerns about Gilbert Farms’ expansion plan on Wednesday, during a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources hearing over a Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit for the farm. The hearing was held to gather feedback before the agency decides whether to approve the farm’s permit.
Gilbert Farms is located in the town of Sevastopol. It has around 1,194 animals and hopes to roughly double that number, said Brittiny Mueller, an agriculture runoff specialist with the DNR.
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The state classifies animal feeding operations with 1,000 animals or more as concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs. The farms are required to obtain state permits.
“Gilbert Farms is over the 1,000 animal unit threshold, and, as a result, was issued a notice of noncompliance,” Mueller said. “To return to compliance, the department is requiring Gilbert Farms to obtain a permit.”
She said there’s a sinkhole near the farm’s production site, so Gilbert Farms’ new waste storage facility will need to use a liquid-tight concrete design and groundwater monitoring will be required. The farm’s feed storage area will also need to be upgraded.
The DNR received feedback about the proposed permit from around 250 people before this week’s hearing, Mueller said.
During the hearing, Gilbert Farms co-owner Marge Gilbert asked that the DNR approve the permit. She said the Gilbert family has been farming in Door County for almost 150 years. She said farming has always been more than “just a job” for the family.
“Farms serve as both a business and a way of life,” she said. “It gives us a sense of purpose, builds self-reliance, creates a close-knit community and provides deep fulfillment for all.”
But many who spoke during the hearing opposed the project, calling for an environmental impact study looking at potential fallout of the farm’s expansion.
Crystal Brown, executive director of the Clean Water Action Council of Northeast Wisconsin advocacy group, said the region of the property immediately around the sinkhole is “highly erodible” and has a “very high runoff potential.”
“There are over 8,000 private wells in Door County,” she said. “Tens of thousands of people depend on this drinking water, we have a responsibility to our neighbors to not put that at risk.”
Sturgeon Bay resident Janelle Peotter also testified against the proposal. She said a large-scale feeding operation produces millions of gallons of manure each year, containing nitrates, phosphorus and bacteria.
She said she’s worried manure could make it into Door County’s water system.
“We rely on clean water for our families, for our orchards, for our tourism, for the very identity of Door County,” she said. “To jeopardize that for one industrial expansion is to gamble with something we cannot replace. I understand the desire to grow, to support local agriculture, to keep farms viable, but a CAFO of this size isn’t the kind of agriculture that built this community.”
While many testified against the permit, some county residents supported the plan. That includes Amy Duffield, a 20-year resident of Sturgeon Bay who works in the dairy industry.
Duffield said the Gilbert family have been “quality dairy producers” for many years and want clean water as much as anybody else.
“They know what they’re doing, and they wish to stay here forever,” Duffield said. “If we were to lose this dairy, what would happen next? Would there be other types of development?”
The DNR is taking written feedback on Gilbert Farms’ permit through Nov. 12 before the agency makes a decision on the permit in the coming months.
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