KANSAS CITY, Kan. – The US Environmental Protection Agency announced that Petersen-Bubke, LLP beef feedlot in Monona County, Iowa agreed to pay a $10,000 civil penalty for discharges of pollutants into Rush Creek and its tributaries.

The fines stem from a March 2011 inspection of the facility, in which EPA inspectors observed evidence of discharges of process wastewater and pollutants from the facility into Rush Creek. Petersen-Bubke had roughly 1,050 cattle at the time of the inspection, EPA said, which made it subject to large Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) regulations. However, the feedlot did not have a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, nor had it applied for one, as required by the Clean Water Act, according to the agency.

In May 2011, EPA Region 7 issued an order to the feedlot directing it to install discharge controls or apply for an NPDES permit. Petersen-Bubke has complied with the Clean Water Act by reducing the number of cattle it confines below the regulatory threshold, and by constructing livestock waste controls, EPA said.