Marks Dairy Farm Pays for Manure Spill |
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August 8, 2006
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USDA
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A manure lagoon in an upstate New York dairy farm burst in early August 2005, creating an environmental disaster and killing hundreds of thousands of fish in nearby Black River. At Marks Dairy Farm near Lowville, N.Y., one of the earthen walls in a manure lagoon collapsed, depositing three million gallons of liquid manure into the river. Shortly after the spill, officials estimated that it caused the deaths of approximately 250,000 fish, but now it appears that more than 375,000 fish died.
In August 2006, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation announced the terms of a consent order it entered into with Marks Dairy Farm as a result of this disaster. Under the terms of the order, the dairy will pay $2.2 million towards fines and projects to benefit the environment. With more than 5,000 animals, Marks Dairy Farm is one of the largest dairy facilities in the northeast United States.
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