Environmental groups win lawsuit to overturn Wisconsin settlement with dairy group

Four environmental groups have won a lawsuit to overturn part of a settlement between the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and a dairy organization.The 2017 settlement ended a legal challenge from the Dairy Business Association over new state guidance for how concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, can manage runoff. The groups, including Midwest Environmental Advocates and the Clean Water Action Council, among others, said changes made in the settlement didn’t follow the agency’s rulemaking process.On Friday, a judge in the Milwaukee County Circuit Court agreed and decided to overturn the settlement.MEA attorney Sarah Geers said the latest ruling doesn’t reinstate the guidance that caused the first legal challenge from the Dairy Business Association.“We hope that what this decision will do will just put the law back to the way it was before any of these issues arose,” Geers said.