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Iowa feedlot owner fined for violating permit

November 17, 2010,
Kansas City, KS – The owner of a cattle and hog feedlot in Plymouth County,
Iowa, has agreed to pay a $5,850 civil penalty to the United States to settle
alleged violations of the facility’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES) permit.
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Kansas City, KS – The owner of a cattle and hog feedlot in Plymouth County,
Iowa, has agreed to pay a $5,850 civil penalty to the United States to settle
alleged violations of the facility’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES) permit.

Mark Beitelspacher,
doing business as Beitelspacher Farms, of LeMars, Iowa, did not maintain
adequate records associated with the land application of liquid effluent from
his feedlot, as required by the NPDES permit.

Beitelspacher Farms’
facilities have the capacity for approximately 3,000 cattle and 4,700 hogs,
according to an administrative consent agreement filed by EPA Region 7 in
Kansas City, Kan.

An EPA representative
conducted a compliance inspection of Beitelspacher Farms on April 28, 2010, and
found that the facility did not maintain adequate records of its liquid
effluent land applications.

Failure to properly
document land applications of a feedlot’s manure-containing process wastewater
can increase the risk that crops and fields may receive excessive amounts of
feedlot-related contaminants. Over-application can significantly increase the
risk that pollutants will end up in nearby streams and water bodies.

As part of the
settlement agreement, Beitelspacher has certified that his feedlot is now in
compliance with the Clean Water Act.  The consent agreement is subject to
a 40-day public comment period before it becomes final.