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Beaver Creek hauler fined for manure discharge

By
Mavis Fodness

Cody Penning, owner of Penning Hauling of Beaver Creek, was fined $9,650 for discharging thousands of gallons of liquid swine manure in 2019.
The discharge occurred in a sensitive drinking water supply area in Clinton Township.
Officials with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) charged Penning with violating general standards for waters of the state, discharging waste into an unsaturated zone and failing to duly notify the MPCA directly to avoid water pollution.
Penning did not dispute the charges.
The Rock County Land Management Office assisted with the documentation of the incidents and the cleanup of the affected areas south of Luverne near the Rock County Rural Water treatment plant.
The manure discharges took place within the water district’s sensitive drinking water supply management area.
RCRW Director Ryan Holtz told county commissioners Jan. 25 that testing revealed no contamination from the Oct. 28 and 29, 2019, incidents.
“It was very, very close to our treatment plant and our draw zone,” Holtz said.
“Where the spill happened and the way the (Rock) river runs, it never — luckily — made it into any of our wells. That would have been catastrophic.”
 
Incidents occurred Oct. 28 and 29, 2019
Penning was using a tractor and pulling two manure applicator tanks filled with liquid manure on Oct. 28, 2019, when he drove into a soft area in the field.
Frequent rains had been falling in the area and the heavy manure load caused the rig to get stuck.
Doug Bos, LMO assistant director, told commissioners that instead of transferring the liquid manure into another tank to lighten the stuck applicator tank, Penning pulled the gate valve, releasing an estimated 10,000 gallons of liquid manure onto the ground at about 7 a.m.
Penning, who has a commercial manure applicator’s license, told Bos he was unaware he couldn’t discharge the manure onto the ground and didn’t know what else he could have done to get the rig out of the mud.
At about 2 a.m. Oct. 29, 2019, less than 24 hours after the first discharge, Penning’s rig became stuck again, and again he discharged manure onto the ground to lighten the load.
“Even though we warned him and the MPCA warned him, he pulled the plug and this time it (the manure) ran to a neighboring property and flooded their backyard,” Bos said.
“You can imagine with hog manure it was quite a mess.”
 
Final ruling issued in August by MPCA
After several internal reviews, MPCA made their final ruling and assessed the monetary penalty to Penning in August.
Staff changes and restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic delayed the final administrative penalty order to almost three years after the discharge incidents.
Penning didn’t appeal the findings and has since completed a portion of the required corrective actions.
Penning was required to pay for the cleanup of both discharge incidents, which was factored into the fine amount. He is also required to prepare and submit an Emergency Response Plan to the MPCA.
Penning continues to be licensed through the Minnesota Department of Agriculture to commercially apply manure in the state.
The Rock County LMO works with the Department of Ag and the University of Minnesota to host trainings for local commercial applicators.
Personal stories are normally included in the trainings.
“This is something we always use as education — when it makes a point with a fine, someone did this on purpose,” Bos said.

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