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Monday, August 11, 2008
Environment - More on: massive fish kill in Union City
Updating this ILB entry from Aug. 8th, Joy Leiker reports today in the Muncie Star-Press:
UNION CITY -- The hog farmer who admitted to polluting the Little Mississinewa River last week with manure, and as a result killed tens of thousands of fish, has a history of polluting other waters and disregarding applicable laws and permits.On July 9 the Ohio Attorney General's office filed a 23-count complaint against Stateline Agri Inc., its owner Rick Kremer and four others connected to the business.
The charges were filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Darke County.
"We file as a last resort to the problems we see, and in this case we thought it was necessary to do this," said Rick Wilson, an environmental specialist with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. "(It's) after we accumulate a number of problems and violations until we even consider this."
The complaint details five years of problems involving two hog facilities owned by Kremer, who hasn't returned messages left for him by The Star Press. * * *
In Indiana, Kremer has one permitted CAFO, said Indiana Department of Environmental Management spokesman Barry Sneed. The farm is permitted to hold 1,500 pigs and is at the corner of Randolph County's Base Road and 625-E. Manure was applied to an unplanted field just north of that farm a week ago, and then heavy rains last Monday washed it through a field tile and into the Little Mississinewa River. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources said the manure caused the ammonia levels in the river to rise and kill fish, between 10,000 and 20,000 as of last week's count.
Sneed said IDEM records show no previous compliance issues with Kremer in Indiana.
He has applied for a permit to expand his Randolph County operation, but it has yet to be approved. Sneed said it's common for the state to ask further questions of applicants, and seek additional information, after an application is submitted.
But that search for additional information doesn't mean IDEM investigates farmers' out-of-state records.
"Presently, the rules do not allow us to consider the performance of livestock operations in other states," Sneed said. "However, we do look at their performance in Indiana and make sure that they are able to meet environmental rules and laws."
That lack of background has been an issue of interest to East Central Indiana lawmakers. For the past two years, legislation has been proposed that would include a good character disclosure for livestock operators who seek IDEM permits. Such a disclosure could include a farmer's record in other states, but the legislation has never been enacted.
The violations at Kremer's farms in Ohio include mishandling manure, not measuring and anticipating how much manure storage systems could handle in the event of rain and operating in ways not allowed by his state-issued permits.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 11, 2008 08:44 AM
Posted to Environment