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January 27, 2010,
Chicago, IL – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 has ordered
Westridge Dairy LLC to stop all unauthorized waste discharges and to comply
with the Clean Water Act.
The EPA also ordered the
facility to apply to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency for a permit
to discharge wastewater.
Westridge is a
medium-sized concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) in the Kaskaskia
River watershed in central Illinois with approximately 700 mature dairy cows.
The EPA inspected the
facility in April 2009 and found that Westridge was not using best management
practices to prevent the discharge of manure and other animal production waste.
The EPA also discovered that the facility did not have a state wastewater
discharge permit.
Manure and wastewater
from animal feeding operations have the potential to contribute pollutants such
as nitrogen and phosphorus, organic matter, sediments and pathogens to the
environment. Stopping unauthorized discharges may require a facility to build
larger waste storage structures or change waste and material handling
practices.
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