EPA agrees to $20K settlement with northwest Iowa feedlot for water violations

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Wynja Feedlot in Orange City have reached a settlement of $20,000 for the feedlot’s unpermitted wastewater discharges.

EPA can charge up to $68,445 per day of Clean Water Act violations, but the agency lowered the charge on the basis that the feedlot had “a limited ability to pay a civil penalty.”

In addition to the fee, Wynja Feedlot Inc., a 999-head capacity cattle feedlot, is required to apply for a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, or NPDES, permit, construct a lined containment basin and sample discharges from the surrounding tile for possible pollutants.

EPA discovered in March 2021 that the confined animal feeding operation had been discharging wastewater through a drainage pipe that led to a “relatively permanent” tributary of the West Branch of the Floyd River.

According to EPA, the wastewater contained high levels of bacteria, ammonia, chlorides and unprocessed organic matter, all of which can contribute to impaired water quality.

The feedlot did not have an NPDES permit for the drainage pipe, and according to EPA, the facility admitted the observed discharge had occurred for three consecutive days.

According to EPA and the Iowa Department of Natural Resource fish kill database, the West Branch Floyd River has been subject to multiple fish kills in the past two decades, some of which were attributable to animal waste.

EPA concluded the facility also had “limited wastewater containment” that meant further “unauthorized discharges” likely occurred during storms.

The consent decree was filed Nov. 17, but the facility was tasked with meeting compliance deadlines over the summer to begin the process of building runoff control structures and sampling process plans.

According to EPA, the facility has already applied for an NPDES permit and received a construction permit to build the lined containment basin.

EPA estimates the facility’s compliance will prevent an estimated 4.5 million gallons of wastewater each year from entering the river. The agency estimates that amount of wastewater is equal to 137,000 pounds of pollutants, consisting of total suspended solids, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and oxygen demand.

This article was first published by Iowa Capital Dispatch.