Second facility in the county fined within the last month for illegal discharge
KCJJ Staff
02/24/19
A Washington County hog farm has been fined $5000 by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for illegally discharging animal waste into a nearby stream.
The DNR says Wellman Farms notified it on Sept. 6 that its lagoon was nearing capacity. When a DNR environmental specialist visited the farm – located on Hemlock Avenue a few miles south of Wellman – that day, he noticed manure discharging over the top of the lagoon and into a stream, which he said had turned brown.
The stream is a tributary of Lime Creek. A test of the stream showed elevated ammonia levels, though the DNR notes no dead fish were found in the stream nor Lime Creek due to the discharge.
The DNR has now ordered Wellman Farms – which has nearly 2800 hogs at the site – to develop a Standard Operating Procedure within 30 days to ensure no future manure discharges will take place, ensure the lagoon is constructed and operating as designed within 60 days, and pay the $5000 administrative penalty within 30 days.
Wellman Farms has up to 30 days to appeal the penalty.
This is the second Washington County hog farm fined by the DNR for an illegal discharge this month; Brenneman Pork – located just a few miles from Wellman Farms – was fined $1000 for a discharge into Lime Creek last September after an irrigation system malfunctioned.