On July 9, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 (EPA) reported that it ordered Greenville Livestock, Inc., a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) in Illinois, to pay $40,000 for failing to comply with the Clean Water Act. EPA previously ordered the facility to stop unauthorized discharges of waste and apply to the Illinois EPA for a wastewater discharge permit.
An EPA inspection discovered that Greenville did not have a Clean Water Act permit to discharge the waste and that it did not use best management practices to prevent such discharges.
EPA has focused on CAFO discharges as one of its National Enforcement Priorities because when livestock manure and other animal waste discharge into waterways, the pollutants can create a threat to public health and damage water resources. Manure and wastewater from animal feeding operations may contribute pollutants like nitrogen, phosphorus, organic matter, sediments, and pathogens into the environment. CAFOs may have to build larger waste storage structures or change waste handling practices to prevent unauthorized waste discharges.