Iowa feedlot fined $10K for polluting creek

MONONA COUNTY — Petersen-Bubke, LLP, a beef cattle feedlot in Monona County, has agreed to pay a $10,000 civil penalty to the United States for violations of the federal Clean Water Act related to discharges of pollutants into Rush Creek and its tributaries.

According to an administrative civil consent agreement and final order filed by EPA in Kansas City, Kan., EPA personnel conducted a compliance evaluation and inspection of the facility in March 2011 and observed evidence of discharges of process wastewater and pollutants from the facility into the creek.

Petersen-Bubke was confining about 1,050 cattle at the time of the inspection, which made it subject to regulation as a large Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO). However, the feedlot did not have a necessary National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, nor had it applied for one, as required by the Clean Water Act.