Contact: Forrest Peterson, 320-441-6972
Rochester, Minn. — Craig Benedix of rural Dodge County recently agreed to pay a penalty to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) for allowing hog manure to discharge to waters of the state.
Benedix owns and operates a 3,000-head swine finishing facility in rural Mantorville, northwest of Rochester. In October 2011, he pumped manure from one of his storage pits to an adjacent field of standing corn. The manure flowed from the field to a grassed waterway and eventually to waters in the Zumbro River drainage area.
Dodge County and MPCA staff investigated after a citizen complained that a local creek was discolored, foaming and smelled like manure. The county and state agency confirmed the presence of manure in Benedix’s grassed waterway and an adjacent intermittent stream that is a tributary of the creek. (Intermittent streams cease flowing at times due to low precipitation and other factors.)
Benedix told investigators he pumped manure from the pit because the manure level had reached the floor slats of the swine barn above. He was not on site during the pumping, although he did notice the manure flowing from the field to the grassed waterway upon his return. The soils under the grassed waterway are classified as having groundwater at or near the surface, meaning the discharge had the potential to pollute the groundwater.
The discharge violated several state statutes, rules and conditions of Benedix’s feedlot permit, including creating a nuisance condition from discharges to waters, failing to store manure properly, failing to report the discharge of manure to a water resource, and failing to prevent, mitigate and clean up the discharge.
Under the agreement with the MPCA, Benedix agreed to pay a $14,000 penalty. The agreement, known as a stipulation agreement, is one of the tools the agency uses to achieve compliance with environmental laws. When calculating penalties, the MPCA takes into account how seriously the violation affected the environment, whether it was a first-time or repeat violation, and how promptly the violation was reported to appropriate authorities.
The MPCA is the state agency responsible for regulating feedlots in Minnesota. The MPCA regulates the collection, transportation, storage, processing and disposal of animal manure and livestock-processing activities, and provides assistance to counties and the livestock industry. For more information about the MPCA’s feedlot program, visit the agency’s Feedlot Program webpage.
