CAFO Manure Discharge Tests a 1,900 Times State Max E.Coli Limit News from Michigan Sierra Club December 27, 2001 A Lenawee County woman's complaints against two dairy concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) for discharging manure wastes into county drains has yielded staggering levels of E.Coli bacteria contamination of the effected drains. Michigan Department of Environmental Quality laboratory tests obtained last week found samples of water downstream of one facility to contain 570,000 E.Coli colonies per 100 milliliters, or 1,900 times the state's maximum standard for E.Coli in surface waters. Sierra Club released these results today to illustrate that Michigan's voluntary compliance program for water pollution from animal factories is failing to do the job. The State faces a deadline from USEPA for submitting a plan for bringing CAFOs under water permits December 31 (see related press release). According to MDEQ records, Brad Hart, owner of Hartland Farms, spread 100,000 gallons of manure on a 50-acre field on November 29th, a day when almost an inch of rain fell in the area. Samples collected by MDEQ included a total of three with over 550,000 E.Coli per milliliter, and three additional at over 300,000. Witnesses to the incident claim that Hart was spreading the liquefied manure in the pouring rain. Reportedly, the discharge from this field continued for a week after the incident was reported, despite remedial actions allegedly taken by Hart. An EPA Administrative Order issued in September 2000 prohibits Hart from spreading manure on his fields within 72 hours of a predicted rain event. A few years prior to the EPA Order, Hartland Farms also caused a massive spill of manure, which flowed into Lake Hudson, the site of a popular state Recreation Area. A second dairy CAFO nearby, the Jelsma Dairy, contaminated surface waters with manure the following day also as a result of poor practices. Tests showed contamination of waters downstream from the Jelsma field at rates more than 133 times the maximum limits for E.Coli bacteria (three samples tested at over 40,000 E.Coli per 100 milliliters). Jelsma Dairy, according to MDEQ reports, had spread manure on a short stand of hay and up to the edge of the field where it meets a ditch. Like Hartland, the Jelsma discharge occurred when rain washed the manure into a county drain. Lynn Henning, a Lenawee County farmer and a member of Environmentally Concerned Citizens of South Central Michigan (ECCSCM), reported both violations to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and later obtained the test results through freedom of information requests. Henning and other members of ECCSCM have been actively seeking to bring proper regulation of CAFOs in their community, where ten dairy animal factories have been built in the last 3 years. At least 10 separate water quality violations from these facilities have occurred in the area in that time period as well. ECCSCM members monitor waterways in their area for contamination, reporting violations as they are found and conducting independent water testing. Anne Woiwode, Staff Director Sierra Club Mackinac Chapter 109 East Grand River Avenue Lansing, Michigan 48906 517-484-2372; fax 517-484-3108 anne.woiwode@sierraclub.org Back to Main Index Page