March 19, 2007

The Department of Environmental Quality announced today that it has settled an enforcement action involving a small dairy operation in Deckerville, Sanilac County. The action arose after the DEQ received reports that Big Creek was contaminated with manure and staff discovered that the source of the manure and other agricultural waste was a waste storage structure at the Van Vliet Dairy.

The Van Vliet family had previously arranged to have a local excavator build a new storage structure for the dairy's waste. The facility owner failed to ensure that all subsurface field tiles were properly removed prior to using the new structure in late May 2006. A tile outlet was overlooked and conveyed a large amount of waste to Big Creek resulting in over seven miles of creek and the near-shore area of Lake Huron becoming contaminated.

Once aware of the spill, the Van Vliets began pumping manure from the new waste storage structure to the old and located the subsurface tile and disconnected it from the new storage structure.

In settlement of these violations, the Van Vliets have agreed to produce a Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan for their dairy and have hired an engineer to certify that the new waste storage structure meets Natural Resource Conservation Service standards. The Van Vliets have also agreed to pay a $10,000 civil fine and reimburse the state for $2,000 in enforcement costs.

Editor's note: DEQ news releases are available on the department's Internet home page at www.michigan.gov/deq.

"Protecting Michigan's Environment, Ensuring Michigan's Future"

Revised March 19, 2007 by Pat Watson