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Ontario dairy fined for liquid manure spill

A dairy farming operation registered as 1013022 Ontario Inc. has been fined more than $30,000 after being convicted of two violations, one under the Ontario Water Resources Act and the second under the Nutrient Management Act.

The company, located in Haldimand County, Ont., was convicted for “permitting the discharge of liquid manure into a watercourse or in waters which may impair the quality of the water and for applying liquid manure during the restricted period and failing to incorporate the material into the soil within the same day.”

The offence dates back to December, 2018. The ministry received a report of slippery road conditions, potentially due to liquid manure being tracked onto a nearby road. The following day, ministry staff conducted a site inspection. During that inspection, it was observed that a brown liquid was flowing from a farm field to a nearby culvert and entering a drainage ditch. The material appeared to be a mixture of melt water and manure. It was also noted that the field was saturated and that it appeared that the manure spreader may have travelled through a flow path in the field which leads to the culvert, without shutting off manure flow. Samples collected by the ministry were determined to include elevated E. coli, as well as total ammonia at concentrations which could be lethal to aquatic life, and high concentrations of total phosphorus that would contribute to harmful and nuisance causing algal blooms.

According to OMAFRA, the company operates a dairy cattle farm operation capable of generating greater than 300 nutrient units (NU) of agricultural source materials (ASM) annually. As such, it is required to have a nutrient management plan under the Nutrient Management Act and must comply with land application standards under Ontario Regulation 267/03.

In addition to the fine of $31,000, the company faces an additional victim fine surcharge of $7,750, with 24 months to pay.