MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A farm has agreed to pay the Wisconsin Department of Justice $215,000 to settle pollution allegations.

The Legislature’s finance committee is slated to approve the deal during a meeting Tuesday. According to an analysis of the deal by the Legislature’s attorneys, the deal will settle allegations that Kinnard Farms improperly spread manure in Kewaunee and Door counties between 2018 and 2022, failed to timely submit an engineering evaluation for a feed storage area and failed to timely submit annual nutrient management plan updates.

The settlement also calls for Kinnard Farms to upgrade two waste storage facilities and a feed storage area.

The Kinnard operation includes 16 industrial farms with about 8,000 cows. The company has struggled with agricultural pollution for years as contaminants began showing up in private wells.

Kinnard Farms owner/operator Lee Kinnard said in a statement that the farms decided to settle rather than face a lengthy and costly dispute. He said the farms “look forward to pursuing state-of-the-art manure management technology.”

Kinnard Farms sued the state Department of Natural Resources in April 2022 over permitting changes that require the operators to limit the size of their herd and monitor groundwater for contamination. That lawsuit is still pending.

For the sake of our family, our fifth-generation dairy and crop farming business, and our relationship with the DNR, we decided it is time to move forward with a settlement, avoiding a lengthy and costly dispute. Our family remains committed to working constructively with regulatory agencies as we continue our use of science-based practices to produce nutritious food while also being highly protective of our precious water and soil resources, our cows and our community. We continue to innovate daily through our use of climate-smart practices. Our family prides itself on being a leader in regenerative agriculture. For decades, we have utilized practices such as cover cropping to build healthy soil and no-till planting to reduce erosion, and have incorporated industry-leading sand and water recycling technology, as well as a system that allows for the production of renewable natural gas. We look forward to pursuing state-of-the-art manure management technology that will allow our family to remain on the cutting edge of conservation and further protect and improve water quality.

Lee Kinnard of Kinnard Farms