It is vital that the Riverview Dairy be required to submit an environmental impact statement. It is
nearly twice as big as any current operations in the state, and its environmental harm would be
enormous. Here's what we know now.
—Massive water use: Riverview would pump up to 226 million gallons/year from an off-site
well-nearly as much as the entire City of Morris (permitted for 300 million gallons/ year for 5,000+
residents).
-Huge waste output: The facility would generate about 202.7 million gallons of liquid manure and
wastewater annually, plus 26,400 tons of solid manure.
—Unknown groundwater impacts: The DNR hasn't begun the hydrologic survey or completed the
County Geologic Atlas for Stevens County, so aquifers and groundwater resources aren't
mapped—making it risky to permit large withdrawals now.
—Sensitive, already-impaired waters: The expansion sits in the Pomme de Terre watershed,
designated sensitive; the nearest waters-the Pomme de Terre River and a nearby unnamed creek-are
already listed as impaired. The project would likely worsen these impairments.
Advancing permits without a full understanding of groundwater and water-quality risks is
irresponsible. It is critical that the MPCA require a full Environmental Impact Statement.