Monticello truck wash fined for excessive wastewater pollution

A Monticello company that washes large trucks and trailers that haul livestock exceeded its wastewater pollutant limits dozens of times in recent years and didn't track the amount of manure it spread on a nearby farm field, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

The department recently fined Royal Flush Truck & Trailer Washout $8,000 for the violations, according to a DNR order.

The trouble began about four years ago after Royal Flush began operating and discharging its wastewater to the city's treatment system. The city had estimated that the addition of the company's waste might cause its treatment plant to operate at greater than 80 percent of its total capacity.

Royal Flush is considered a "significant industrial user." The DNR approved the agreement because the city planned to upgrade the treatment facility, department records show.

That upgrade has not happened yet, and Royal Flush has routinely exceeded limits in its treatment agreement with the city for nitrogen, solid materials and the amount of oxygen its wastewater can deplete in streams.

That is believed to have caused Monticello to violate the limits of its own permit to discharge treated wastewater to the Maquoketa River. The DNR fined the city $5,000 last year.

The DNR did not document an obvious environmental effect because of the city's violations, such as dead fish in the river.

Royal Flush has attempted to adjust its washing process over the years to comply with its limits, said Brett Meyers, an environmental specialist for the DNR who investigated the situation.

The company has sprayed the dirty trailers and attempted to separate the manure from the rest of the wastewater. It has scraped manure-laden bedding from the trailers before washing them.

Royal Flush also has decreased the amount of livestock trailers it cleans, Meyers said. The company initially told the DNR in 2020 that cattle trailers accounted for about 65 percent of its business.

The company violated the limits of its treatment agreement with the city 51 times, DNR documents show. Meyers said the company has complied with the limits in recent months.

An unspecified amount of the manure from those trailers was spread on a farm field in the area, and Royal Flush did not document how much was dispersed and when, Meyers said.

That information is important to help the DNR determine whether too much manure was dispersed. The waste contains nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus that can buoy crop growth, but it also has the potential to contaminate the ground and streams.

The DNR ordered Royal Flush to cease land application of the waste until it receives authorization from the department.

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