Wis. Correctional Farm Project Halted

MADISON, Wis. — Sen. Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) and Rep. Jeff Fitzgerald (R-Horicon) announced plans for a Correctional Farm Consolidation near Fox Lake have been halted.

The Department of Corrections said recently it does not intend to proceed with the project to construct a consolidated dairy farm and manure digester on lands within the Fox Lake Correctional Institute.

After listening to concerns over the possible pollution of Fox Lake by property owners, the lawmakers voiced their concerns to the members of the State Building Commission, who passed an amendment to withdraw the project from the Capital Budget. The proposed site was located on a Fox Lake tributary and would have heightened the existing nitrogen levels.

The project was originally enumerated in the 2009-2011 Capital Budget and approved in the last budget bill. Construction was to begin in August of 2010, but the project never went beyond the planning stage due to the concerns raised by local property owners.

Tests conducted on Fox Lake’s water by the University of Wisconsin found the lake already has high levels of nitrogen and other nutrients that enter the lake from its three tributaries, one of which runs next to the Fox Lake Correctional Institute property.