Northeast Iowa cheese producer fined for wastewater violations affecting Turkey River
A large cheese producer in far northeast Iowa has repeatedly failed for years to properly treat its wastewater that flows into creeks that feed the Turkey River, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
Prairie Farms Dairy near Luana recently agreed to pay a $10,000 fine for the ongoing violations and to upgrade its wastewater treatment system by 2030.
DNR records show that the wastewater expelled by the facility has routinely violated limits for ammonia nitrogen, bacteria, suspended solids, chlorine and pollutants, dating back to 2018. Tests of the treated wastewater in March 2022 showed bacteria levels that were more than 40 times a limit set by the DNR. Tests in August and September 2023 showed ammonia levels that were more than three times the limit.
The facility discharges about 690,000 gallons of wastewater per day, according to DNR records. In recent years, the facility has installed various equipment that was meant to help the problems, but the violations continue.
“They are exceeding their design capacity,” said Michele Smith, a senior environmental specialist for the DNR who has investigated the issue.
A recent DNR order noted that the treatment system is meant to process about 820 pounds of total suspended solids per day, but “this average was exceeded 51 out of the 53 months reviewed.”
The facility underwent a massive expansion about eight years ago when it was operated by Swiss Valley Farms, according to that company’s website. That expansion was expected to double the site’s cheese production.
In 2017, Swiss Valley merged with Prairie Farms, which is based in Illinois, and the resulting company kept the Prairie Farms name.
Smith did not know whether the increase in production was a cause of the wastewater violations, and a Prairie Farms spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request to comment.
Smith said she is not aware of any fish kills that have resulted from the pollution but that people have complained about murky, smelly creek water. Someone who lives about a mile south of the facility reported to the DNR in September 2023 that a creek downstream from the facility was discolored and emitted an unspecified odor.
“The material has been present in his tributary for the last two days,” according to DNR notes about the complaint.
Prairie Farms is still working on plans to rectify the problems, Smith said. It’s unclear whether the company will completely replace the treatment system or attempt to modify it.
The recent DNR order requires Prairie Farms to employ an experienced and certified wastewater operator and to start construction of upgrades to the treatment system by August 2028.
In 2018, Prairie Farms agreed to pay the state a $100,000 fine for excessive air pollution that went on for more than a decade at the Luana facility, according to court records. That pollution was caused by Swiss Valley’s unapproved removal of an emissions control device in 2004.
The device had been installed in 1981 after the DNR discovered part of the facility was emitting particulate matter into the air at a rate of nearly three times what was allowable.
Under an agreement with the state, Prairie Farms agreed to pay the fine and install $1.4 million worth of new emissions equipment.
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This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Luana, Iowa cheese producer fined for wastewater violations
