Features Applications Beef Business/Policy Environment Protection Protection United States
EPA inspection reveals violations by KS feedlot

November 3, 2014, Lenexa, KS – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency personnel conducted inspections in northeastern Kansas in December 2013. As a result of one of the inspections, the owner of a beef feedlot has agreed to pay a $16,150 civil penalty to settle alleged violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA), according to a proposed consent agreement.

The EPA inspection documented pollutant discharges from production areas of the 2,200-head facility to Perkins Creek, a perennial stream that has been listed by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) as impaired because of high levels of phosphorus and total suspended solids.

The settlement also addresses the operation’s failure to develop and implement a Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) as required by its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. Nutrient management plans are critical to ensuring that nutrient-rich manure is land applied properly and kept out of nearby river and streams. Ultimately, the failure to develop the NMP resulted in KDHE’s refusal to renew the NPDES permit.

Manure and wastewater discharges from concentrated animal feeding operation production areas can violate water quality standards, pose risks to human health, threaten aquatic life and its habitat, and impair the use and enjoyment of waterways.

As part of the settlement agreement, the feedlot certified that it is now in compliance with the CWA. KDHE has confirmed that the operation has developed and submitted a NMP. The consent agreement is subject to a 40-day public comment period before it becomes final.