Features Regional Regulations
EPA issues orders to feedlots in IS, KS, NB

September 2, 2011,
Kansas City, KS – The EPA Region 7 announced recently that it issued
administrative compliance orders to six concentrated animal feeding operations
(CAFOs) in Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska, directing those operations to correct a
range of violations of the federal Clean Water Act.
September 2, 2011,
Kansas City, KS – The EPA Region 7 announced recently that it issued
administrative compliance orders to six concentrated animal feeding operations
(CAFOs) in Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska, directing those operations to correct a
range of violations of the federal Clean Water Act.

Region 7’s latest round
of CAFO enforcement activity, aimed at encouraging producers’ compliance with
the Clean Water Act and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
(NPDES) permitting program, involves five beef feedlots, including three in
Nebraska, one in Kansas, and one in Iowa; and an egg layer operation in
Nebraska.

“The majority of
livestock and poultry producers in Region 7 understand the importance of
protecting our water resources, and they work hard to ensure their operations
comply with state and federal laws,” said Karl Brooks, EPA Region 7
administrator. “However, when an operation fails to meet its responsibilities,
the EPA will continue to work closely with our state partner agencies and
stakeholders to enforce the Clean Water Act and encourage compliance.”

Stormwater runoff from
CAFO production areas such as confinement pens, feedstock storage areas and
manure stockpiles, and runoff from land application areas, can cause
exceedances of water quality standards, pose risks to human health, threaten
aquatic life and its habitat, and impair the use and enjoyment of waterways.

According to the
administrative compliance orders issued by EPA Region 7 in Kansas City, KS:

• M.G. Waldbaum Company,
  d/b/a Bloom N Egg Farm, Bloomfield, NB – An inspection of the egg layer
  operation in September 2010 found that it was illegally discharging wastewater
  from poultry manure stockpiles into a tributary of Little Bazile Creek in Knox
  County. Sample results indicated high levels of E.coli bacteria and other
  pollutants discharging into the tributary. The order requires the operation to
  cease all production area discharges, install runoff controls, and comply with
  the Clean Water Act. The operation, which has a capacity of 4,448,000 birds,
  was confining approximately 3.1 million layer hens at the time of the
  inspection. The operation has applied for an NPDES permit.
• A.J. Jones, d/b/a
  Callicrate Feeding Company, St. Francis, KS – An inspection in February 2011
  identified significant NPDES permit violations, including failure to maintain
  adequate wastewater storage capacity, failure to meet Nutrient Management Plan
  requirements, failure to conduct operations within areas that are controlled in
  a manner capable of preventing pollution, and failure to maintain adequate
  records. The order requires the operation to comply with all terms of the Clean
  Water Act and its NPDES permit, and to coordinate with the Kansas Department of
  Health and Environment on its compliance. The order requires the operation to
  comply with the terms of its Nutrient Management Plan, including sampling and
  recordkeeping requirements. The feedlot has a permitted capacity of 12,000
  cattle and was confining approximately 3,219 cattle at the time of the
  inspection.
• Michael and David
  Uecker, d/b/a Dave Uecker Livestock, Norfolk, NB – An inspection of the beef
  feedlot and stream sampling in July 2011 found that the operation was illegally
  discharging manure, litter and process wastewater into a series of drainage
  ditches before discharging into an unnamed tributary to the North Fork of the
  Elkhorn River in Madison County. The operation has a capacity of 900 cattle and
  was confining approximately 450 cattle at the time of the inspection,
  classifying it as a medium CAFO. The order requires the operation to apply for
  an NPDES permit, and construct feedlot waste controls or reduce the number of
  cattle that it confines below the regulatory threshold.
• John Reigle, d/b/a
  Reigle Farms, Madison, NB – An inspection of the beef feedlot in June 2011
  found several NPDES permit violations, including illegal discharges from a
  holding pond to an unnamed tributary of Tracy Creek in Madison County, failure
  to timely notify state authorities of the holding pond discharge, failure to
  maintain adequate wastewater storage capacity in the holding pond, failure to
  maintain an accurate staff gauge in the holding pond, unauthorized discharges
  of livestock waste from land application fields, failure to maintain wastewater
  application records and failure to perform a liquid waste nutrient analysis.
  The order requires the operation to comply with the Clean Water Act, its NPDES
  permit and Nutrient Management Plan, and to cease operations in parts of its
  facility where wastewater cannot be properly managed. The operation has a
  permitted capacity of 9,000 cattle and was confining approximately 8,600 cattle
  at the time of the inspection.
• Ritter Feedyards, LLC,
  Beemer, NB – An inspection of the NPDES-permitted beef feedlot in April 2011
  found the facility was discharging manure, litter and process wastewater into
  Rock Creek and an unnamed tributary of the Elkhorn River in Cuming County. The
  order requires the operation to comply with the Clean Water Act and its NPDES
  permit, and to construct feedlot waste controls. The facility has a permitted
  capacity of 1,200 cattle and was confining approximately 1,038 cattle at the
  time of the inspection.
• S&S Cattle Company,
  Council Bluffs, IA – An inspection of the beef feedlot in May 2011 found that
  the operation discharges manure, litter and process wastewater into a series of
  drainage ditches that flow into an unnamed tributary of Mosquito Creek in
  Pottawattomie County. The operation has a capacity of 999 cattle and was
  confining approximately 730 cattle at the time of the inspection, classifying
  it as a medium CAFO. The order requires the operation to apply for an NPDES
  permit and construct feedlot waste controls, or reduce the number of cattle it
  confines below the regulatory threshold.