The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) civil penalty of $20,000 was levelled at the Inwood site for Clean Water Act violations.
County Edge Dairy qualifies as a large Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) under Clean Water Act regulations. However, during an EPA inspection in July 2012, the firm did not possess a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit required by law.
The inspection also found that the facility does not have adequate waste control facilities and the slope and condition of the land will result in wastewater discharge into tributaries of Dry Run Creek.
Discharges from CAFOs can decrease water quality and pose risks to human health, aquatic life and its habitat, and impair the use of waterways, said EPA.
The agency had issued an Administrative Compliance Order on 1 April 1 which required the dairy to cease all wastewater discharge from its facility or reduce the number of cattle at the facility until unauthorized discharges are eliminated.