Stockton digester to pay $5K fine for illegal dumping

A Stockton digester facility has agreed to pay a $5,000 fine for illegal dumping after a former employee allegedly buried at least 20 barrels, some containing unknown liquids.

AgriReNew, an anaerobic digester facility located at Sievers Family Farms, neither admits nor denies the allegations in a consent order the Iowa Department of Natural Resources released Thursday.

The Iowa DNR received an anonymous complaint June 28, 2022, about the alleged burial of up to 100 drums of “unknown and potential hazardous materials” at the AgriReNew site, the agency reported. In 2018, the company had taken possession of 168 drums and 10 totes of soy lecithin to process in the digester.

The AgriReNew facility is one of a half dozen on-farm digesters running in Iowa. Operators put food waste and manure into large tanks, where bacteria and microorganisms break down the feedstock and produce biogas, a combination of methane and carbon dioxide that can be used to produce heat or electricity.

The AgriReNew facility processes manure from beef cattle raised by Sievers.

AgriReNew Manager Bryan Sievers reported no buried drums when the Iowa DNR visited June 29, 2022, but later learned a former employee had buried some of the barrels without his knowledge, the agency reported.

An excavation Oct. 4, 2022, revealed at least 20 barrels underground. A few of the drums had a “foamy liquid” with a “rancid or rotten odor,” the Iowa DNR said. Others contained “brownish-black fluids.” Tests of nearby soil showed the presence of barium, chromium and lead, but not at levels above statewide soil standards, the agency reported. The waste was hauled to the Scott County Landfill in late October 2022 and the area was filled with sand and uncontaminated topsoil.

AgriReNew has 30 days to pay the penalty.

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