The operator of a beef feedlot in Sioux County, Iowa, 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 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 7 in Kansas City, Kan.
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. According to EPA, 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.
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 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.
Source: U.S. EPA
