Tap Root Dairy owner sentenced for Clean Water Act violation
William “Billy” Franklin Johnston, the owner of Tap Root Dairy, in Fletcher, was sentenced to four years of probation, six months of which is to be spent in home detention.
Jill Westmoreland Rose, acting US attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, said Johnston was sentenced for his role in the discharging of cow feces into the French Broad River.
Dennis L. Howell, US Magistrate Judge, also ordered Johnston to pay a $15,000 fine.
The French Broad River supplies drinking water to more than one million people and is used for recreational water activities, such as swimming and kayaking.
Fine and probationary term
Tap Root was fined $80,000 and placed on a four-year probationary term during which regulators and investigators can inspect records and facilities without a notice or warrant.
Money from the fine will support entities that safeguard the French Broad River and other environmental concerns in the Southeast.
Maureen O’Mara, special agent in charge of EPA’s criminal enforcement program in North Carolina, said Tap Root Dairy Farm has an obligation to protect the surrounding community from pollution.
“Animal wastes are considered pollutants under the Clean Water Act because when discharged illegally, they can cause serious damage to the environment and put human health at risk.”
Tap Root maintains several hundred cows and manages hundreds of acres of crop fields in Fletcher, according to filed documents and statements made in court.
The firm disposes millions of pounds of solid and liquid animal waste, which are pollutants under the Clean Water Act.
Court documents show from 2009, Johnston let his certification lapse as Operator in Charge (OIC) of Tap Root’s animal waste management system.
Despite receiving warnings and notices, court records show that as of December 4, 2012, the firm had not designated a valid OIC to oversee its waste management system.
Cow feces discharged into river
From September 3 to December 4, 2012, for 93 days, Johnston and Tap Root employees failed to check and maintain the levels of cow waste in their on-site waste containment lagoons.
According to court records, this resulted in the spillover and discharge of 11,000 gallons of cow feces and other waste into the French Broad River on December 4, 2012.
Testing by the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources found the fecal coliform level where the waste stream meets the river was 99,000 parts per million, whereas anything above 800 parts per million is indicative of a release.
Even downstream, testing found the fecal coliform level was 2,200 parts per million.
A criminal bill of information filed in US District Court in November 2013, charged Tap Root and Johnston with one count of violation of the Clean Water Act.
The company agreed to abandon any appeal related to a North Carolina State civil penalty and design and implement a compliance plan subject to approval by the EPA.
Rose, acting US attorney, said agriculture is an important sector of Western North Carolina’s economy but it should not thrive at the expense of public health.
“Environmental protection laws are in place to ensure appropriate land use and safeguard our communities from potentially harmful pollutants.”
