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Idaho Feedlot Pays $24,000 in Penalties

Release Date: 12/18/1997
Contact Information: Joe Roberto
roberto.joe@epamail.epa.gov
(206) 553-1669 or (800) 424-4372


December 18, 1997 - - - - - - - - - - 97-76


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Idaho Feedlot Company of Eagle, Idaho, has agreed to pay a $24,000 civil penalty to settle a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency complaint that the feedlot repeatedly violated the federal Clean Water Act early this year by discharging manure-laden water into a drainage network that flows into the Boise River.

The settlement was announced today by Leroy Loiselle, chief of EPA's regional water compliance unit in Seattle. In agreeing to the settlement, Idaho Feedlot neither admitted nor denied the allegations by EPA in its complaint last June.

The complaint was based upon a series of inspections by EPA and the Idaho Division of Environmental Quality (IDEQ) in January and February of this year. The inspectors reported five illegal discharges from Idaho Feedlot entering an irrigation water return ditch connected to the Boise River.

Idaho Feedlot is located near Eagle (on Beacon Light Road and Palmer Lane) about 10 miles northwest of Boise. More than 10,000 animals are kept at the feedlot.

The EPA-IDEQ inspections were part of ongoing efforts by EPA and state authorities to ensure that feedlot and dairies subject to Clean Water regulations for concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are in compliance with the law. The statute requires CAFOs to keep pollutants out of waters like the Boise River. Discharges from CAFOs typically contain bacteria, large amounts or nutrients and other organic matter that can degrade water quality and harm wildlife.
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