Wis. town barred from beefing up farm water rules

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a rural town lacks the authority to impose tougher water-quality standards on a livestock farm than the state requires.

Magnolia, a community about 30 miles south of Madison, granted Larson Acres Inc. a permit in 2007 when it wanted to expand, but included a number of conditions because residents blamed it for polluting their water supply. The farm initially had 1,000 cows and now has about 2,900.