Judge throws out industrial wells permits scientists said would harm public waters

A Dane County judge has thrown out eight high-capacity well permits the state granted to businesses despite warnings from its own scientists that the heavy water withdrawals would harm vulnerable lakes, streams and drinking water supplies. Circuit Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn ruled that the permits ran afoul of a constitutional provision requiring state government to protect water for the public.

"This Court is bound by nearly 120 years of precedent and a long rich history in the State of respecting the Wisconsin Constitution and its fundamental protection of the waters of the State for the enjoyment of all," Bailey-Rihn wrote in a decision she issued Wednesday.

She was ruling in lawsuit the conservation group Clean Wisconsin filed a year ago after examining dozens of permits the state Department of Natural Resources revised in 2016 under pressure from industry and elected Republicans who control state government. The DNR removed or increased pumping limits it previously had placed on dozens of wells, adding more than a billion gallons to the amount of […]

Full article: Judge throws out industrial well permits scientists said would harm public waters