December 30, 2010,
Kansas City, KS – The operator of a beef feedlot in Sioux County, Iowa, has
agreed to pay a $30,000 civil penalty for unpermitted discharges of wastewater
from the facility into Otter Creek.
December 30, 2010,
Kansas City, KS – The operator of a beef feedlot in Sioux County, Iowa, has
agreed to pay a $30,000 civil penalty for unpermitted discharges of wastewater
from the facility into Otter Creek.
Darin Green, doing
business as Darin Green Feedlot, of Hull, Iowa, agreed to the penalty as part
of an administrative consent agreement filed by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) Region 7 in Kansas City, KS.
On March 11, 2010, EPA
inspectors observed and sampled illegal discharges of manure, litter and
process wastewater that were flowing from Green’s feedlot into a tributary of
Otter Creek. The feedlot did not have adequate waste control structures to
prevent the discharge, nor did it have the required National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) wastewater permit.
At the time of the
inspection, the feedlot was confining approximately 2,100 cattle, including 950
in open pens and 1,150 in a deep-bedded confinement building.
The EPA issued an
administrative compliance order to Darin Green Feedlot on March 30, 2010,
requiring immediate compliance with the federal Clean Water Act. Since that
time, Green has constructed adequate runoff controls and obtained an NPDES
permit.
Unpermitted discharges
of wastewater from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) can cause
exceedances in water quality standards and pose risks to human health, threaten
aquatic life and its habitat, and impair public use and enjoyment of waterways.
The settlement is subject
to a 30-day public comment period before it becomes final.
