EPA Issues Compliance Orders to Six Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations in Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska (IA, KS, NE)
Environmental News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Kansas City, Kan., Aug. 22, 2011) - EPA Region
7 announced today that it has 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,” EPA Regional
Administrator Karl Brooks said. “However, when an operation
fails to meet its responsibilities, 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, Kan.:
M.G. Waldbaum Company, d/b/a Bloom N Egg
Farm, Bloomfield, Neb. - 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, Kan. - 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, Neb. - 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,
Neb. - 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,
Neb. - 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,
Iowa - 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.
Learn more about EPA’s civil enforcement of the Clean Water Act
Learn more about the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) and how it regulates concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs)
Read a summary (1 pg, 28K About PDF) of how the NPDES regulations define large, medium and small CAFOs
EPA Region 7 offers 10 tips to help CAFO owners and operators prepare for inspections
Connect with EPA Region 7 on Facebook: www.facebook.com/eparegion7