A dairy facility in Jerome has been fined thousands of dollars over what the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality stated was a violation of the company’s discharge permit.
Agropur, Inc., headquartered in the U.S. in Appleton, Wisconsin, was fined $29,605 by the DEQ for a wastewater discharge on Dec. 5, 2021, that was not allowed under the federal Clean Water Act.
The discharge was the result of equipment failure, according to Agropur’s Communications Advisor Jim Collar. The company informed the City of Jerome as soon as possible, he said.
“Agropur advised the city of the non-compliant discharge in a timely manner and took immediate action to minimize risks,” Collar said. “Agropur employees were able to capture most of the non-compliant wastewater before it was discharged to the city’s treatment plant.”
According to a release issued by the DEQ, the department issued an Idaho Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (IPDES) indirect discharge permit to Agropur, which was valid from April 14, 2019, through March 16, 2022. The permit covered the amount and type of pollutants discharged by the facility into the city’s wastewater treatment plant.
The 850,000-square-foot Agropur facility in Jerome processes between 6 and 7 million pounds of milk on a daily basis, which it receives from about 30 local dairy farms. The facility employs 400 workers, according to the company website.
On Dec. 5, 2021, the DEQ stated Agropur “discharged approximately 9,000 gallons of discolored industrial wastewater to the city’s sewer system, which interfered with the treatment plant’s ultraviolet disinfection system and caused the city to violate its IPDES permit.”
Fines totaling nearly $30,000 were paid by Agropur on Sept. 1, 2023, which the company agreed to. Major steps are being taken by the company to keep such discharges from happening again.
“Agropur’s Jerome plant is completing a $22 million expansion to its wastewater treatment system, which will eliminate risks of non-compliant discharge should similar malfunctions occur in the future,” Collar said.
