DALLAS – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has ordered two chicken broiler facilities in Lincoln Parish, La., to immediately stop all discharges of pollutants into a tributary of the Dugdemona River. EPA has issued cease-and-desist administrative orders to the Mike Reeves and Beaver Creek Farm chicken broiler facilities for discharging chicken litter into the river.

“We expect poultry farms to put food on our tables, not waste into our rivers,” said EPA Regional Administrator Al Armendariz. “Owners and operators of animal feeding operations have a responsibility to comply with the law.”

The EPA inspected the facilities on Jan. 24 and 25 and found unauthorized discharges of pollutants from chicken litter storage piles to the unnamed tributary.

As a result of the inspection, the owners and operators of the chicken-broiler facilities have been ordered to immediately take action to stop all discharges of pollutants from their facilities’ chicken litter storage piles. Within 30 days they must submit to EPA and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) a certified summary, including photographs, that document the unauthorized discharges have been stopped.