Forwarded by Jane Clark Pasted below is a news release from the Department of Natural Resources concerning the conviction of an Iowa dairy farmer on four counts of water pollution in federal court Dec. 2. Iowa DNR News Environmental Services Division For immediate release Tuesday, Dec. 7 For more information, contact Tom McCarthy at 563-927-2640. DAIRY FARMER CONVICTED OF WATER QUALITY VIOLATIONS CEDAR RAPIDS * Carl Simon, a dairy farmer from Farley, was convicted on four counts of water pollution in federal court last Thursday. Simon was found guilty of breaching a dam on his manure storage facility, allowing manure from his small dairy operation to flow directly into Hogan's Branch, a former trout stream and a tributary of the Little Maquoketa River. Simon was also found guilty of discharging wastes from his milk room into the stream. The DNR found the breached dam in December of 2003 during a follow-up visit to Simon's farm, said Tom McCarthy, an environmental specialist at the DNR Manchester field office. "For more than 95 percent of the farmers we work with, it's a one visit deal," said McCarthy. "If there is something wrong, they ask, 'How do I fix this?' and we send them a letter with details of what they need to fix." In Simon's case, McCarthy said the DNR had been to his farm many times since 1987, sent him letters and filed an administrative order with a $5,000 penalty. The case was referred to the Iowa Attorney General's office as a criminal investigation after Simon deliberately dug two trenches from the manure pit to the stream. The case was jointly investigated by the Iowa Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Justice. Ryan Stouder, another DNR environmental specialist, said that there had been multiple violations resulting in discharges to the stream, and that the DNR continued to find problems that were not fixed. According to McCarthy, it would have been fairly inexpensive for Simon to fix the major problems with his operation by diverting a large volume of clean water flowing down into his confinement barn and manure storage. "That would have helped him keep the manure basin two feet below the top, so that it wouldn't overflow," said McCarthy. McCarthy added that Simon also needed to prevent the milk and potent cleaners from the milk room from flowing into the stream. "We have a lot of small farmers next to streams. We want them to stay in business, but we want them to fix an environmental problem when we find one," McCarthy said. Simon faces up to three years in federal prison on each of the four charges. The sentencing date has not yet been set. The conviction resulted from the joint efforts of the DNR field office, the Iowa Attorney General's office, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Attorney's office Northern District of Iowa. # # # Karen Grimes 515-281-5135 [log in to unmask] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Sign up to receive Sierra Club Insider, the flagship e-newsletter. Sent out twice a month, it features the Club's latest news and activities. Subscribe and view recent editions at http://www.sierraclub.org/insider/