Madigan
CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) - Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a complaint on Thursday against the owner of a dairy farm that is under construction that allegedly discharged liquid into a nearby river.
Traditions South Dairy, based in Stockton, Ill., is owned by A.J. Bos of Bakersfield, Calif. The complaint, filed with the Illinois Pollution Control Board, names Bos' Tradition Investments LLC.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, following up on a citizen's complaint of discoloration in the west branch of the South Fork of the Apple River on Oct. 1, allegedly traced a pink and purple colored liquid to a location at the dairy that discharged into the tributary.
A sample collected by the IEPA found an elevated level of suspended solids attributable to the discharge of silage leachate, Madigan says. Additionally, the unnatural color of the discharge is a violation of state water regulations, Madigan says.
The silage, Traditions South Dairy employees told the IEP, was collected at the dairy for livestock that had not yet arrived. Leachate from the silage was then stored in a holding pit at the dairy.
Inspectors from the IEPA were told by the dairy's contract land applicator that approximately 320,000 gallons of the silage leachate were applied on five acres of land on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.
Madigan's complaint seeks to schedule a hearing with the Illinois Control Board to allow Traditions Investments the opportunity to answer the five counts in the complaint, which include water pollution and operating without a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit.
Each count of the complaint seeks a civil penalty of $50,000 per violation and an additional $10,000 for each day the violation continued.