Waterways Restored: Case Study 8 – Fighting Agricultural Pollution in Illinois

When the Clean Water Act is applied to American waterways, good things can happen. Our recent report, Waterways Restored: The Clean Water Act's Impact on 15 American Rivers, Lakes and Bays, highlights waterways where the Clean Water Act's protections and improvement provisions have had positive effects. Polluted waterways have been cleaned up, pristine waterways have been preserved, and threatened waterways have been protected. All waterways deserve these opportunities. In this blog series, we'll showcase individual case studies from the report. The next installment looks at agricultural pollution in Illinois.

Jeff Inglis

Policy Analyst

When the Clean Water Act is applied to American waterways, good things can happen. Our recent report, Waterways Restored: The Clean Water Act’s Impact on 15 American Rivers, Lakes and Bays, highlights waterways where the Clean Water Act’s protections and improvement provisions have had positive effects. Polluted waterways have been cleaned up, pristine waterways have been preserved, and threatened waterways have been protected. All waterways deserve these opportunities.

In this blog series, we’ll showcase individual case studies from the report. The next installment looks at agricultural pollution in Illinois.

ILLINOIS: Small Town Residents Defend the Apple River Against Massive Livestock Farms

The Apple River in Jo Daviess County, Illinois, is a local treasure. As the water source that has carved the Apple River Canyon for centuries and a tributary of the Mississippi River, the river attracts tourists to Apple River Canyon State Park from all over the country to enjoy hiking, picnicking and the charm of the surrounding small towns.[i] Thanks to the Clean Water Act, the area has been protected from factory farm pollution, which would have put the river’s health at risk.

In November 2007, A.J. Bos, a businessman from California, announced that he was planning to build two huge dairy farms (with 5,500 animals each) in the county.[ii]

Numerous studies have shown that animal feed operations of this size post significant risks of surface and groundwater contamination. The EPA says these operations “congregate animals, feed, manure and urine, dead animals, and production operations on a small land area.”[iii] They produce animal waste containing pathogens, pharmaceuticals, heavy metals, pesticides and naturally excreted hormones.[iv] This animal waste often makes it into local waters through runoff and absorption into the soil, and is a risk to public health.[v]

In opposing Bos’s factory farm plans, local residents pointed out that, in addition to the risks of direct surface runoff, the geology of the area made the Apple River especially vulnerable to aquifer and tributary contamination from the farm.[vi] The group, called Helping Others Maintain Environmental Standards (HOMES), said the contamination could jeopardize the $200 million tourist industry.[vii]

Traditions Dairy Farm sought to fill 300 feet of an Apple River tributary as part of constructing a 127 million gallon manure pit – a clear pollution threat. The Army Corps of Engineers asked the farm to modify its design and ordered Bos to prove that the revised design would comply with the Clean Water Act.[viii]

In May 2008, the Illinois Department of Agriculture overruled the Jo Daviess County Board’s rejection of Bos’s application to build Traditions Dairy Farm.[ix] In reaction, HOMES filed a lawsuit alleging violation of state laws implementing the Clean Water Act and sought a court injunction to halt construction.[x] In October 2008, a temporary injunction order was issued that blocked the operation of a dairy portion of the farm, but the farm was still able to work on non-dairy portions such as slabs, barns and other farm infrastructure.[xi] In just three months, the farm produced and stored 26,000 tons of corn silage (fermented corn fodder) on the site in anticipation of the permit to operate.

In 2009, runoff from the silage was mishandled, twice turning the Apple River tributary black.[xii] Improper management of this liquid, called silage leachate, can lead to environmental hazards.[xiii] It is estimated that one gallon of leachate discharge can contaminate 10,000 gallons of river water, with the potential to cause mass fish kills.[xiv]

In October 2010, another silage leachate discharge turned an Apple River tributary purple.[xv] After investigators from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the Environmental Protection Agency surveyed the contamination, the case was sent to the state attorney general.

In April 2011, the Illinois State Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Traditions Dairy Farm for five violations of the Clean Water Act, including polluting water and discharging without a permit. The final nail in the coffin was the state’s ruling that Traditions had not proved its manure pit would comply with water quality standards set under the Clean Water Act.[xvi]

Bos gave up and shut down the farm before ever bringing cows to the site, ensuring that the Apple River would not be subject to pollution from a major factory farm.[xvii] Local citizens had used the Clean Water Act to protect the Apple River even when state officials initially would not act.

   

[i] Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Apple River Canyon-State Park, accessed at dnr.state.il.us/lands/landmgt/parks/r1/apple.htm, 10 September 2014.

[ii] Jeff Long, “Californian Hopes Illinois Is Land of Milk and Money,” Chicago Tribune, 31 March 2008.

[iii] Definition of CAFO: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, What is a CAFO?, accessed at www.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/sector_table.pdf, 10 September 2014; Jordan Schneider, Frontier Group, and Lisa Nikodem and John Rumpler, Environment Illinois Research and Policy Center, Factory Farms, Fouled Waters: How Industrial Livestock Operations Pollute Illinois Rivers, Lakes and Streams, 19 February 2014.

[iv] EPA statement: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, What is a CAFO?, accessed at www.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/sector_table.pdf, 10 September 2014; list of contaminants: JoAnn Burkholder, Bob Libra, and Peter Weyer et al., “Impacts of Waste From Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations on Water Quality”, Environmental Health Perspectives, 115(2):308-312, 10.1289/ehp.8839, February 2007.

[v] JoAnn Burkholder, Bob Libra, and Peter Weyer et al., “Impacts of Waste From Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations on Water Quality,” Environmental Health Perspectives, 115(2):308-312, 10.1289/ehp.8839, February 2007.

[vi] Aaron Chambers and Andrea Zimmermann, “Jo Daviess On Edge Over Megadairy,” Rockford Register Star, 30 March 2008.

[vii] HOMES, Timeline of Events, accessed at stopthemegadairy.org/timeline-of-events.html, 10 September 2014.

[viii] Bern Colleran, “Jim Sacia Supports Mega-Dairy Over IEPA Objections,” Rock River Times, 11 August 2010; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Certification, accessed at water.epa.gov/lawsregs/guidance/wetlands/sec401.cfm, 10 September 2014.

[ix] Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District, “Opinion of the Court,” Appeal from the Circuit Court of Jo Daviess County (Case 08-CH-42), 22 December 2010.

[x] Ibid.

[xi] “A.J. Bos to Abandon Traditions Megadairy in Jo Daviess County,” Rock River Times, 28 November 2012; HOMES, A.J. Bos Agrees to Abandon Traditions Megadairy Project Near Nora, IL (Press Release), 20 November 2012.

[xii] Ibid.

[xiii] Christina Curell and Kathy Lee, Silage Leachate: An Environmental Disaster, 30 August 2011.

[xiv] Ibid.

[xv] Eric Petermann, “State AG Sought on Purple Discharge,” Journal Standard, 12 October 2010; “HOMES Continues Fight Against the Megadairy,” Rock River Times, 3 July 2012.

[xvi] Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Illinois EPA Statement: Concerning Illinois EPA Denial of the Traditions Dairy South 401 Water Quality Certification Application (press release), 2 September 2011.

[xvii] “A.J. Bos to Abandon Traditions Megadairy in Jo Daviess County,” Rock River Times, 28 November 2012; HOMES, Timeline of Events, accessed at stopthemegadairy.org/timeline-of-events.html, 10 September 2014; HOMES, A.J. Bos Agrees to Abandon Traditions Megadairy Project Near Nora, IL (press release), 20 November 2012.

Authors

Jeff Inglis

Policy Analyst