Oink!

JEFFERSON CITY, MO., APRIL 16, 2010 – A leaky line in a wastewater application system at a Platte County hog operation resulted in the runoff of potentially hundreds of thousands of gallons of wastewater, according to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
The department was notified Wednesday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regional office in Kansas City, Kan., of a call it had received concerning the land application of wastewater at A&A Farms, a hog production facility in Platte County, and possible runoff of wastewater into an unnamed tributary of Dick’s Creek.
An investigation by a staff member from the department’s Kansas City Regional Office discovered one of the supply lines to the farm’s application system was leaky, allowing the waste to enter the creek.
The wastewater application process began Monday and continued through the time the leak was discovered on Wednesday. The exact amount wastewater entering the creek is unknown. Based on the volume of wastewater in observed in the creek, the total is estimated to have been in the hundreds of thousands of gallons.
The department considers discharges of wastewater into waterways to be possible threats to public health and the environment. Such discharges have the potential to contaminate lakes and streams, causing serious water quality problems.
For more information on wastewater overflows or other water quality issues, contact the Department of Natural Resources’ Water Protection Program at 573-751-1300 or 800-361-4827 or visit the department’s Web site at dnr.mo.gov/env/wpp.
To report an environmental emergency, including wastewater overflows, please contact the DNR spill line at 573-634-2436. For more information contact the department at 800-361-4827 or 573-751-3443, or visit the department's Web page at dnr.mo.gov.