Texas Dairy Review (Stephenville, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 6, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 6, 1992 Page: 3 of 29
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TEXAS DAW DCVCW
DACES
Feedlot case
Coatiaaed from Page /„
of standing under a U.S. Supreme A major dispute in the ease has 25-ycar. 24-hour siorift event.
Court ruling (Gwalney of Smith- involved whether Alta Verde fits The Supreme Court holds that
field Ltd. V. Chesapeake Bay within the exception for fccdlots in order for a citizen to firing suit
Foundation, Inc, 484 U.S. 49 that discharge only on the ,hc p|ajn,jff must makc a p(KHl.'
1987), in which the Supreme occurence of a 25-year, 24-hour faith allegation of continuous or
Court held that citizens do not storm event. intermittent violation. The defen-
have standing to seek civil penal- A 25-ycar, 24 hour storm event dant can challenge the factual
ties for wholly past violations of is a rainfall event with a prohafile basis for ,his ullcgaiion fiy moving
the Octm Water Act. On this rccurrcncc in,crval of oncc «n for summary judgment. On
basis, the district court reasoned twcnly fivc.ycars' Bt>,h Par,ics lo motion for summary judgment,
that no violations of the Clean ,hc casc sl'Pu,alwl ,ha‘ a 25-ycar, the defendant must prove that the
Water Act had occurred bv Aita 24'hour s,orm cvcnt mcanSi for plaintiffs allegations of continu-
Vcide industries on or since the thc fEf.B,c P*ss art‘a; 1A inthcs of wus or intermittent violation do
date of the complaint and no f.a'nfa" w',hl" ,a 24 hHU».P®"0!1- not riasc a genuine issue of
Alta Verde did not discharge in material fact. If thc case proceeds
violations were likely to occur in 1987 as a result of such a heavy |(, trial, however, the plaintiff
the future because Alta Verde lit storm, (which has not occurred must prow the allegations of a
within an exception to the since 1936), but, instead, because continuousor intermittent viola-
National Pollutant Discharge Eli- thc combined rainfall that spring ,jon as an clement of their cause
initiation System (NPDES) permit exceeded the capacity of Alta of action,
requirements. Verde’s wastewater disposal sys- The U.S. Congress in 1972
The exception, they reasoned, ,cm- passed the Federal Water Pollu-
was that Alta Verde did not have Apa Verde contends that it is *'on Control Act Amendments to
to obtain an NPDES permit since not a point source because the rcs,orc and maintain the integrity
it met the EPA’s effluent limi- EPA’s definition of a conccnira- ,*)c na,'ons waters. To achieve
tation guidelines for concentrated lcd anjma| feeding operation ,hal Poal' ,hc Atl requires the
animal feeding operations. Any excludes operations that discharge s,r‘cl cn,ortcmcnt ol certain tech-
violations that had occurred, . . . „ nology-based elllucnt limitations,
according lo lire dislric. can. ^ S-Jctt, 24 luw slum. Ax ibc prima^ means lor cnlorc-
mre wholly parr and lhcplainliirSm", And;^r CJon,C“r' J* Itec .....
didn't have snflicicnl rcaona lo 'T V . V"1 «* NPDES
brinjssujt the storm event, they feel they fit permit system. The Supreme
The Fifth M Qtnr', howc. Ct»rl captained that under the
«r, found that the EPA effluent ** Q“,1l l“'n,cd NPDES' ' “ « *» m
limitations guidelines do „„,»»'•“«« Verde s cttiuttruct,on person lo diseha.se a pollulani
create such an exception lo thc ‘V the EPA definmun ignores the wtlhou, Obutimns a and
NPDES permit requirement. They“’J ««* They argue otmjdyine with its terms. An
concluded that Alla Verde's Vc"fc»»“ NPDES permt, serves to wans-
failure to obtain a permit amoun- fS.'hc <* "lns r",m applicaMc effluent
ted lo a continuing violation of 987 ,,8,8 umounl us a limitations and other standards,
(he Clean Water Act and any 25ire*r* 24-ta>u* event. They -including those based on water
discharges in thc future will argu,^ .thal *h,s .^t‘l‘•onclus,vc,y quality-into obligations (includ-
amount to intermitfent violations. es,ablis,,cs ,hal Al,a ycr<lc was a ing a timetable for compliance) of
concentrated animal feeding ope- ,hc individual discharger, and the
They said thc district court had ration and thas, a point source at 1972 Amendments to the Act
erred in saying that thc plaintiff* the time of the 1987 discharges providc for dirCc, administrative
lacked standing or sufficient rea- because Alta Verde did not dis- a„d judicial enforcement of per-
son to bring a citizen suit charge ONLY in thc event of a mi,s - «.
Dairy inspections to begin in January
TWC Hearings
Pablie Hearings
On Tues.. Aug., 4. at I p.m.. at
the Eralh County Courthouse, the
Texas Water Commission will
conduct a public hearing on an
application for wastc/wastcwatcr
disposal permit by Jack 'l uls dba
Tuls Dairy.
The Tuls Daily is located on the
north side I'M Road I IKK.
approximately three miles north-
west of the intersection of FM
Road I IKK and llwy. 377 in I-rath
County.
Corning Up...
The Texas Water Commission
will conduct a public hearing
beginning al 6:30 p in.. Aug. 17.
1992, al Hamilton City Hall
Council Chambers. 200 ll Main
Si. in I iamilion.
The hearing will be held in
order lo receive tcsiunnnv con-
cerning the waste load evaluatin'
report few dissolved oxygen in tin
I Attn River bekiw Proctor lake in
the Brazos River Basin.
The primary purpose of a waste
load evaluation is to define treat-
ment levels for wastewater dis-
chargers to a segment and specify
other program actions that need
to be taken in order lo attain and
maintain the water quality stan-
dards. The evaularion is also for
the purpose of describing non-
point source |Ndluiion from areas
tributary to a segment, and lo
indcnlily treatment lew I alterna-
tives using receiving stream water
quality simulations. A section
containing recommended treat
men 1 levels and other pioposed
recommended actions is also in
eluded.
The Texas Water Commission
and the Texas Department of
Health have reached a tenative
agreement to conduct agricultural
inspections beginnings Jan., 1993.
The coordinated effort by both
state agencies will focus their
inspections on daily operations.
The Texas Department of Health
Brucellosis
currently employs 27 state inspec-
tors. The TWC plans to hire two
additional agriculture inspectors,
one of whom is expected to work
primarily in Erath County while
the other will be conducting in-
spections in other areas of the
state.
The plan will expand thc cur-
rent state health inspectors duties
for inspecting milk quality lo
include inspections on wastewater
management plans and overall
dairy operations. Thc health in-
spectors will make recommenda-
tions to thc TWC, who in turn,
will levy fines and carry out
enforcement actions.
or local government as a result of public benefit anticipated as a
enforcing or administering the result of enforcing the section will
section.
be to lessen the restrictions for
Robert L Daniel, director of cattle entering the state from
program records, has determined Class “A” states or areas. There
that for each year of the first five will be no effect on small
yean the section is in effect, the businesses. There is no anticipa-
laed from Page 1
ted cconomi^ cost to persons who
are required! to comply with thc
section as proposed.
Comments on the proposal may
be sumbitted to Jo Anne Conner,
Texas Animal Health Commis-
sion, P.O. Box 12966, Austin, Tx.
TWC PERMIT
APPLICATIONS
7bc lolhmmg ts a partial list ttf ted; new permit, for a dairv loca
thosewho haw applied lor waste led on the southeast side ol bun
disposal perm,its /torn the Texas Oak Road and approximately
Hater Commission in the month three miles north of the intersec-
o! June. /<*/.’ lion of U.S. Highway 67 and bine
Dowell Well Service Incorpora- Oak Road in lirath County.
EPA Permit
Requirements Proposed
The EPA has determined that the separate general permits for
in certain sections of the Clean concentrated animal feeding ope-
Walcr Act concentrated animal rations in Texas, New Mexico,
feeding operations are point Iziuisiana. ami Oklahoma with iut
sources subject to the National authorized NPDES State pro-
Pollutant Discharge Elimination grams; on Indian lands in New
System (NPDES). Mexico and Oklahoma. Separate
Thc Federal Register, published general permits are being noticed
Nov. 16, 1990, contains applica- for each stale,
tion requirements for all storm Comments on the proposed
water discharges associated with |>ermils must be received •«, it
industrial activities, which in- before the dale 10 days followi ng
eludes facilities with National the date of the last public hcai ing
Effluent Guidelines for storm in thal stale. In Texas, the e «n-
water. The effluent limitations ment period ends Aug. 2K, |( 92.
apply to all wastewaters from In New Mexico, Sept. K, 1992
feedlot wastewater operation biuisiana. Sept. 4, 1992; In q
areas, including those generated honta. Sept. K, 1902.
by prcciptiation. This places feed- The public should send an ori-
lols in the category of National ginal and two copies of jtbiir
Effluent Guidelines for storm comments on any aspect o
water. AH dischargers covered by proposal to Ellen Caldwell,]
thc Nov. 1990 publication must mils Branch of Water Dr
apply for a permit or gain (6W-PS), U.S. Environing
coverage under a promulgated Protection Agency Region 6. U
permit for storm water. Ross Ave., Suite 1200, Dali
The EPA requests comments on Texas, 75202. CaU (214)655-7fjp0.
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Webb, Sherry. Texas Dairy Review (Stephenville, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 6, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 6, 1992, newspaper, August 6, 1992; Stephenville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth768184/m1/3/?q=%22thurber+%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .