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EPA Orders Manheim Farm to Cease Unpermitted Waste Discharges

Release Date: 06/02/2010
Contact Information: Sternberg 215-814-5548 sternberg.david@epa.gov

(PHILADELPHIA – June 2, 2010) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that it has ordered a Manheim Pa. farm to stop discharging pollutants to a stream without a required Clean Water Act permit.

On April 1, EPA inspected the farm of Melvin and Moses Petersheim of Manheim Pa. Melvin Petersheim owns and operates an egg-laying operation with approximately 36,000 hens. His brother Moses operates a dairy farm with about 80 dairy cows on the same property.

The inspection determined that pollutants, including nitrogen and phosphorus from animal manure from both operations were discharged into an unnamed tributary of Chickies Creek, a tributary of the Susquehanna River.

EPA is ordering the facility to cease discharging pollutants to the waters until they have the required permit. The farmers must also submit a compliance plan to EPA explaining what actions the facility has taken and will implement to comply with the Clean Water Act.

The farm is located in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. This action is part of the Agency’s efforts to implement the President’s Executive Order for the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and a compliance and enforcement strategy to improve water quality in local waterways and the Bay.

For more information about the Chesapeake Bay watershed compliance and enforcement strategy visit https://www.epa.gov/compliance/civil/initiatives/chesapeakebay.html