After the renewal permit with an expansion to 3300 cows, Emerald Sky Dairy; immediately sold the facility to Breeze Dairy Group
Despite several dozen citizens who weighed in during a public comment period against the renewal/expansion permit in July 2023, Wisconsin DNR reissued the permit and authorized a doubling of the size of Emerald Sky Dairy from 1700 to 3300 cows. The DNR did this without any significant changes in permit terms despite contaminated wells in the area, high phosphorus readings in soil tests surrounding the farm, and a history of E.coli outbreaks due to the karst topography in the area.
Emerald Sky Dairy has had a poor management history resulting in several violations, most noteworthy the discovery of a 275,000-gallon manure spill into wetlands in December 2016 that went unreported until an anonymous tip turned them in three months later. A fish kill from spreading manure on frozen ground in November 2019 added to the total of $145,000 in fines between the two violations.
Emerald Sky Dairy has been sold to the Breeze Dairy Group as of March 2024 and has been renamed "Croix Breeze Dairy." This group already owns 4 industrial dairies in Wisconsin, the closest of which is Ridge Breeze Dairy near Maiden Rock, WI in Pierce County.
In light of another ownership change and horrible violation history for the industrial dairy in Emerald, St. Croix County Defending our Water worked with Citizens Protecting Rural Waupaca (located near Pine Breeze Dairy) to do a little research as to the history of this producer.
CEO is Gregg Wolf and members of the Gerrits family fill out most of the other executive roles (Geoff, Brad, & Katie). They claim 10,000 cows across their four farms, and a fifth one to be added….formerly Emerald Sky Dairy now renamed to Croix Breeze Dairy as of March 2024.
One would hope a new owner would bring better management for Emerald. But despite the bucolic scenes on their social media, the DNR violations database reveals a drastically different picture at Breeze Dairy Group. Pine Breeze Dairy in Pine River, WI (Waushara County) has had 9 spills in the last 11 years – nearly one every year! At just this one facility, the total amount spilled is 200,000 gallons of manure, one such spill of 100,000 gallons in a wetland and neighbor’s pond. Lake Breeze Dairy spilled 40,000 gallons of manure into Pipe Creek and Lake Winnebago, putting dozens of residents on notice for possible E.coli exposure. This history is of great concern to everyone in Emerald Township and downstream all the way to the St. Croix River.
The sale of Emerald Sky to Breeze Dairy Group didn’t occur until AFTER Emerald Sky Dairy got their latest WPDES permits (with authorization to double the herd size and no major changes in practices to protect water quality or soils). “Selling permits” does not bode well for either Minnesota or Wisconsin residents in this St. Croix River watershed, especially when sold to other serial violators.
