NELSONVILLE, Wis. (WAOW-WSAU) — The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says Gordondale Farms in Portage County will be required to install monitoring wells to test for chemicals like nitrate.
The DNR issued a permit on Friday after discussions with residents in recent months.
Katy Bailey, who lives in Nelsonville, near where some of Gordondale Farms’ land is, is relieved steps are being taken to clean up their water supply.
“I know all of us feel heard for the first time in quite some time,” she said.
She says nitrate levels have been high for years, adding that in 2013, they were recorded at just under 14 parts per million, and the number was at 22 parts per million in 2020.
The standard for nitrate is 10, according to Portage County Planning and Zoning.
“We’re just looking out for not only ourselves, but our neighbors. We just want to be able to drink our water,” Bailey said.
Kyle Gordon, the farm’s owner, says installing the wells will be costly, despite saying they’ve remained compliant throughout the decades they’ve been in operation.
“For us, it’s scary, just from the standpoint of we have to hire the engineering, we have to pay for them,” Gordon said. “This is something we have to do, even though we’ve followed all the nutrient management rules,” he added.
Gordon says nitrates can get into the groundwater through multiple means, like through using fertilizers and performing other activities on the grass.
“Nitrates come from agriculture, they come from septic, they come from lawns, they come from everywhere. So these monitoring wells will hopefully help answer that question,” he said.
Conversations have already started within his farm on how to move forward, adding that significant changes to their operations may be imminent, like moving to growing vegetables. He says their farm has about 1,200 cows at the moment as part of their dairy operations.
Gordon also claims his farm is not alone in contributing to the current water situation, and is open to larger discussions.
“I’m a little bit disappointed in the fact that everyone seems to be pointing the fingers at one farm. We should really just be working together to limit how much goes into the ground, rather than attempting to close down businesses,” he said.
“That would be the goal, for all of us to work together, but until we get to that point, I think having this additional data with the groundwater monitoring is going to be helpful for everybody,” Bailey said, in response.
Gordon has until October 12 to submit his plan for installing the wells, which the DNR would have 90 days to approve it.
