Riverview LLP abandons 21,000-animal dairy CAFO project proposed for less than 1-mile off White Earth Reservation boundary in the 1855 Treaty Territory

WHITE EARTH, MINN. – On March 6, 2023, Riverview LLP announced that it will abandon its proposed 21,000-animal dairy CAFO project, which the company planned to locate less than 1-mile away from the White Earth Reservation boundary in the 1855 Treaty Territory. The facility had proposed to appropriate 325 million gallons per year from the sacred Wild Rice River plus an additional 80 million gallons per year of groundwater. It planned to spread nearly 200 million gallons of manure and wastewater annually on White Earth Reservation and 1855 Treaty lands in Norman and Mahnomen counties.

In response to Riverview LLP’s decision to rescind its permit applications for the CAFO facility, Chairman Fairbanks, leader of the White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, issued the following statement: “To the White Earth Band and our tribal members, water is life, and our homeland, akiing, is sacred. Time and time again, our Tribe’s sovereignty and our land and water resources have been ignored or disrespected by the State of Minnesota and large agribusinesses. The proposed Riverview East Norman dairy facility is just one example. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources proceeded for months in evaluating wells proposing to pump over 400 million gallons of water per year from our sacred Wild Rice River and groundwater, with no input from the Band.” The Chairman went on to state that, “the land and water resources of the White Earth people are not for sale, and the Band plans to move forward by strengthening its laws to protect people and the environment.”

The White Earth Band has already taken steps to protect the health and welfare of its tribal members and natural resources from CAFOs. Citing substantial human and environmental concerns associated with factory farms expanding or proposing to be located on the White Earth Reservation and in the surrounding 1855 Treaty Territory, the White Earth Reservation Business Committee passed a resolution and ordinance on November 18, 2022, imposing a moratorium on new or expanded Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations and large Animal Feedlot Operations constituting environmental hazards on Reservation lands.

“This is a significant win for the White Earth Band, the tribal community members and the sacred resources of the White Earth Reservation and 1855 Treaty Territory.” said the Band’s environmental attorney, Jamie Konopacky. Konopacky further noted that “it is unfortunate that the State of Minnesota’s water appropriation permitting and environmental review processes do not yet protect tribal sovereignty and reserved rights through explicit requirements. However, the White Earth Band independently evaluated and demonstrated potentially significant harms to tribal people and the environment.” Konopacky further provided that “the Band’s success in stopping the Riverview East Norman CAFO project is a testament to its strength and dedication to environmental stewardship.”

The White Earth Reservation includes 530 lakes, 300 miles of rivers and streams, 167,878 acres of wetlands and substantial groundwater resources contained in shallow, unconfined and deeper, layered aquifers. According to Dustin Roy, Director of the White Earth Department of Natural Resources, "many White Earth tribal members subsist off the land and water resources found within the White Earth Reservation and surrounding 1855 Treaty Territory.” Roy went on to make clear that “tribal members abide by a sacred duty to protect these resources, which provide so much for us in return.” Roy noted that “the Riverview company recently began operating a 10,500-animal Waukon dairy CAFO without consent from the Band in the 1855 Treaty Territory” and “Riverview's environmental assessments for both the newly operational Waukon CAFO and abandoned East Norman CAFO reflect that the company pays zero attention to the health and welfare of tribal people or Tribes’ federally protected resources when developing its factory farm operations.”

In addition to being a sacred moral and cultural duty to the White Earth Band, stewardship is also a hard fought scientific endeavor. "The White Earth Band, through its community and Department of Natural Resources, works hard to protect and restore water resources and aquatic life.” said Will Bement, White Earth Fisheries Director. Bement went on to stress that “for over two decades, the Band, working with tribal, state and federal partners, has worked tirelessly to reintroduce sacred sturgeon to our waterways, and the Riverview East Norman CAFO facility, through hundreds of millions of gallons of water appropriations and manure waste annually, threatened to undermine our water protection and restoration efforts.”