For Release: Thursday, August 3, 2006
DEC Announces Consent Order with Lewis County Farm for Manure Spill
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Denise M. Sheehan today announced that DEC and Marks Dairy Farm in Lowville, Lewis County, have entered into a consent order that requires payment of more than $2 million as a result of environmental damages caused by a large liquid manure spill, including funding over $1.5 million in environmental benefit projects.
"DEC is committed to holding responsible parties accountable for damages to the environment and this spill had significant impacts to the area's fisheries, among other resources," said Commission Sheehan. "The consent order with Marks Dairy Farm is a necessary, positive step that will help address the violations that took place by requiring comprehensive corrective actions and increasing recreational access."
On August 10, 2005 several million gallons of manure being stored at the large dairy farm operation emptied into an adjacent field and moved through a drainage ditch into the Black River. The spill led to a strong drop in dissolved oxygen levels in the water. DEC determined that over 375,000 fish were killed in an approximately 20-mile stretch of the Black River.
DEC worked with the State Department of Health (DOH), the Lewis County Soil and Water Conservation District, local officials and the State Department of Agriculture and Markets to investigate the circumstances of the spill, count the fish killed, monitor the water quality and dilute the manure plume. DEC's investigation into the remaining fish population in the areas affected by the spill showed that many young fish and macroinvertebrates survived the spill, keeping the ecological basis for that stretch of the river's food chain intact. DEC issued a Notice of Violation (NOV) detailing preliminary violations on August 19, 2005, including water quality violations and violations of the terms and conditions of the facility's Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) Permit.
Marks Dairy Farm is one of the largest dairy operations in the Northeast with over 5,000 cows and thousands of acres of crop fields. When operating in accordance with the facility's CAFO permit, manure is safely stored and applied to crop fields to recycle nutrients as fertilizer.
Under the terms of the consent order, Marks Dairy Farm has agreed to pay a $2.2 million settlement package. The consent order resolves the outstanding violations and requires the facility owners to bring the facility into compliance with all environmental regulations and standards.
The package is comprised of the following terms:
- A payable penalty to DEC of approximately $310,000 to be deposited into the Conservation Fund and a payment of approximately $390,000 for Natural Resource Damages. The combined total will be paid in installments over a six year period, with the first payment due within 60 days of the execution of the order;
- $1.5 million in Environmental Benefit projects including: public fishing rights easements at the farm along the Black River and Whetstone Creek and development rights easements over most of the farm's land holdings; and
- Satisfactory completion of a Compliance Schedule, by December 31, 2006, to ensure proper management of the farm's waste and compliance with environmental laws and regulation.
Additionally, since the spill occurred the owners of the Farm have replaced the old manure lagoon with a fully compliant manure storage facility, and have completed many of the best management practices required by the compliance schedule in the consent order.
There are currently 471 medium and 147 large permitted CAFO facilities statewide. New York was one of the first states in the nation to develop a CAFO permit in 1999. Under the program each large and medium CAFO facility is required to obtain a DEC permit. The permit contains conditions for waste control and management, and it requires submission of a plan for manure storage such as volume limits, location, erosion control, lining standards and structural design standards. The permit also requires that all CAFO facilities complete a Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan that is prepared by a certified planner. This plan outlines how each facility will manage manure, wastewater, and other wastes. Each farm must submit an annual report to DEC to address its compliance with both its permit and implementation of its Nutrient Management Plan. Any extensive changes to the facility or the plan, suspected violations of the permit, or public complaints are inspected and reviewed by DEC.
Since 1996, more that $50 million has been committed on a cost-share basis from the 1996 Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act and the Environmental Protection Fund for agricultural non-point source projects to help farmers complete on-farm water quality protection projects around the State. Additionally, to further aid in these efforts the 2006 - 07 Budget approved five new professional DEC staff to assist in the CAFO program administration. These staff members will work on CAFO permit compliance, development and guidance.
