LAKETOWN – According to Wisconsin Circuit Court records, the closely watched CAFO lawsuit against the town of Laketown has been officially dismissed. The action came down on Monday, May 1.
The request to dismiss the suit came after the newly installed Laketown Town Board voted on April 18 to unanimously repeal their CAFO ordinance.
The ordinance, which went into effect Feb. 23, 2021, allowed residents to have up to 999 animal units if they were already an operator in Laketown, or up to 699 animal units for someone who wanted to become a new operator in the town, before being classified as a CAFO.
Last year, the WMC Litigation Center – an affiliate of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce – representing seven claimants (which went down to four, due to a death and one couple withdrawing) who are farmers, business owners, property owners and taxpayers, filed the suit, alleging Laketown’s ordinance on CAFOs is unlawful and that Wisconsin’s state statutes should take precedence.
The vote to repeal Laketown’s CAFO ordinance came as no surprise, with two new supervisors being elected on April 4. Ron Peterson and Merle Larson voted to repeal the ordinance on April 18, which was supported by their former counterparts, Bruce Paulsen and Mark Johnson.
With the repeal of the Laketown ordinance, it is down to four towns currently having CAFO ordinances on the books, Trade Lake, Eureka, Luck and Bone Lake. Some anticipate a new CAFO lawsuit to possibly be filed in the coming weeks or months against one of these four towns.
