LEWISTON, Minn. – The policy director for the Land Stewardship Project, which opposes giant feedlots, called the latest court ruling against expanding the Daley dairy herd at Lewiston a “victory” for clean water. Said Sean Carroll: “It defies common sense to allow for the expansion of factory farms in an area that already suffers from significant nitrate contamination of the groundwater.” The new ruling, from the state Appeals Court, went against a Daley claim that the Winona County Board was unduly biased in denying a Daley application to override the county’s unit cap on feedlots.The Daley plan was to quadruple the county limit with 6,000 animal units. The expanded facility would use 92 million gallons of groundwater a year around Lewiston and produce 46 million gallons of manure and waste water. The Daley position has been that technology can preclude feedlot leaking. Well-equipped large feedlots are better than a lot of smaller traditional feedlots, the Daleys have argued. The appellate court, however, focused not on the broad issues but on a technical issue over Winona Coury Board procedures.
Earlier: Daleys lose latest bid to expand dairy herd
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Appeals Court profile
The Minnesota Court of Appeals reviews decisions of trial courts, state agencies, and local governments. As the error-correcting court, the Court of Appeals filters extraneous and weak arguments in appeals. This allows the Minnesota Supreme Court to spend time resolving difficult constitutional and public policy cases. Court of Appeals decisions are the final ruling in about 95% of 2,000 to 2,400 appeals every year. Typically about 5% of the appellate court’s decisions are accepted on further appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court.