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EPA orders Illinois dairy to stop unauthorized waste discharges

Release Date: 01/26/2010
Contact Information: Karen Thompson, 312-353-8547, thompson.karen@epa.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
No. 10-OPA005

(Chicago - Jan. 26, 2010) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 has ordered Westridge Dairy LLC, 2114 Ames Road, Red Bud, Ill., to stop all unauthorized waste discharges and to comply with the Clean Water Act. EPA also ordered the facility to apply to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency for a permit to discharge wastewater.

Westridge is a medium-sized concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) in the Kaskaskia River watershed in central Illinois with approximately 700 mature dairy cows.

EPA inspected the facility in April and found that Westridge was not using best management practices to prevent the discharge of manure and other animal production waste. EPA also discovered that the facility did not have a state wastewater discharge permit.

EPA Water Division Director Tinka G. Hyde said, “When pollutants from livestock manure and other animal production waste discharge into waterways they can create a threat to public health and harm water resources.”

Manure and wastewater from animal feeding operations have the potential to contribute pollutants such as nitrogen and phosphorus, organic matter, sediments and pathogens to the environment. Stopping unauthorized discharges may require a facility to build larger waste storage structures or change waste and material handling practices.

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