Rock Valley, Iowa — A dairy operation near Rock Valley has agreed to pay a $160,000 civil penalty for discharges from their facility.
Meadowvale Dairy agreed to the penalty for Federal Clean Water Act violations and have also agreed to act to prevent future illegal discharges into nearby streams.
Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division John Cruden says that this settlement sends a clear message that concentrated animal feeding operations must comply with the Clean Water Act in order to prevent future discharges into our waters. He says that the agreement requires remedial measures to reduce pollutants and protect aquatic ecosystems in the short term, as well as third party auditing to ensure long-term compliance with the terms of the consent decree and the controlling permits.
In the consent decree filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Sioux City, in addition to civil penalties Meadowvale Dairy will be required to implement injunctive relief that includes short-term and long-term corrective measures to prevent unpermitted discharges of pollutants into tributaries.
According to the Iowa DNR, fish kills in 2004 and 2009 were caused by discharges from the dairy and they and the EPA found more discharges of stormwater in 2013 and 2014.
Meadowvale milks about 10,000 head of cattle on 185 acres of land.
