St. Albans Farmers Settle With State In Pollution Case

(Host) The state of Vermont has reached a settlement with a St. Albans dairy farmer charged with polluting Lake Champlain.

But an environmental group says the settlement is weak, and will not serve as an effective deterrent against future farm pollution problems.

VPR's John Dillon has more:

(Dillon) The case began more than a year ago and the farmer and the state have very different versions of what happened.

Inspectors for the Agency of Agriculture met three times with farmer David Montagne to warn him that one of his farms had the potential to pollute St. Albans Bay.

Then, according to court documents, inspectors last March say they witnessed manure travel down a ditch, through a culvert and enter the bay. So the state went to court to stop the pollution. Assistant Attorney General Michael Duane describes what happened next.

(Duane) "The Montagnes denied the fact they had a discharge. The state felt that there was evidence of a discharge. And the case was resolved by having the Montagnes agree to the issuance by the court of a permanent injunction against them from having any discharges from that portion of their farm."

(Dillon) The settlement does not require the Montagnes to pay a fine and they maintain that they didn't cause any pollution. But it does say they'll have to pay a $2,000 penalty if they violate the court order and allow manure from the farm to reach the lake.

The settlement does not satisfy Anthony Iarrapino, staff lawyer with the Conservation Law Foundation in Montpelier. He points out that St. Albans Bay was infested this summer by blooms of toxic blue green algae - fed in part by manure from dairy operations.

(Iarrapino) "By failing to assess a penalty in this case the state is really sending dairy operators the message that they're free to pollute our waters without fear of serious consequences. And instead the consequence is born by swimmers, fishermen, boaters, lake businesses that depend on tourists, property owners. They pay the price in dirty water that is unsafe for swimming often times."

(Dillon) For his part, farmer David Montagne denies the lake was harmed. He says the barn in question was used to house calves that were let outside for exercise.

(Montagne) "That's all we were doing is good husbandry practices. We have never polluted the lake. We have never seen any problem on that site since I've owned it."

(Dillon) Michael Duane of the attorney general's office says the settlement was effective because it will prevent future pollution.

(Duane) The state doesn't believe it's a just slap on the wrist because we fixed the problem and obtained a permanent injunction against a farm.

(Dillon) But Iarrapino says environmentalists had hoped for more aggressive enforcement from the Shumlin Administration.

(Iarrapino) "This case when it was filed initially, jointly by the Agency of Natural Resources and the Ag Agency, was a cause for great hope. The result is a sign of utter disappointment, and has us asking serious questions about whether there will be a change in terms of the attitudes of state leaders when it comes to holding polluters accountable."

(Dillon) The Conservation Law Foundation has cited farm pollution as one reason the federal Environmental Protection Agency should take over Vermont's clean water programs.

For VPR News, I'm John Dillon in Montpelier.