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EPA orders two Virginia farms to cease discharges


June 3, 2010  by Environmental Protection Agency

June 3, 2010,
Philadelphia, PA – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently ordered
two Virginia farms to cease discharging pollutants to a stream without a
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, as required by
the Clean Water Act.
June 3, 2010,
Philadelphia, PA – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently ordered
two Virginia farms to cease discharging pollutants to a stream without a
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, as required by
the Clean Water Act.

On April 14, 2010, the
EPA conducted a Clean Water Act inspection of Turley Creek Farms in Linville,
Va., a chicken broiler grower that confines approximately 100,000 chickens. The
inspection found the farm was improperly storing large piles of uncovered
chicken manure and evidence that pollutants, including nitrogen and phosphorus,
were discharged into Turley Creek, a tributary of the North Fork of the
Shenandoah River.

On April 15, 2010, the EPA
also inspected the farm of Windcrest Associates LLC, in Timberville, Va., which
owns and operates a dairy and turkey growing operation confining approximately
250 mature dairy cows, 275 heifers, and 22,800 turkeys. The inspection
determined that pollutants, including nitrogen and phosphorus from animal
manure were being discharged into an unnamed tributary of the North Fork of the
Shenandoah River and the Shenandoah River itself, contrary to the requirements
of the Clean Water Act.

The EPA is ordering the
facilities to cease discharging pollutants to the waters until they have
applied for and received authorization to discharge via a Clean Water Act
Discharge permit. The farmers must also submit a compliance plan to EPA
explaining what actions the facilities have taken and will implement in order
to comply with the Clean Water Act.

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