MONTPELIER, Vt. (Legal Newsline) - A Franklin County, Vt., dairy farm agreed to pay $40,000 in fines after it allegedly dumped its manure discharge into a local stream, Vermont Attorney General William H. Sorrell said on Thursday.
Leach Farms Inc. admitted to violating Vermont's water quality laws.
“Keeping Vermont’s waterways clean is one of our state’s top environmental priorities,” Sorrell said. “Improving the quality of the water in Lake Champlain is of particular importance. Farms need to understand their role in keeping the lake clean.”
A video showed three manure trucks from Leach Farms pulling water out of Bogue Brook in Enosburg Falls on Nov. 19, 2013. The trucks then drove downstream and dumped the discharge, which contained manure-mixed water, back into the stream, Sorrell said. The brook is a branch of the Missisquoi River, which flows into Lake Champlain.