Gallatin sale barn faces lawsuit

State seeks fines, clean water compliance from cattle auction

by Ray Scherer

The News-Press - St. Joseph, Missouri

Monday, July 28, 2008

GALLATIN, Mo. — The state of Missouri has filed a lawsuit against a Daviess County cattle auction over alleged clean water violations and failure to prevent contamination of local streams.

The Daviess County civil lawsuit names Danny Froman, manager of the Gallatin Livestock Market, in a petition for preliminary and permanent injunctions, civil penalties and breach of contract. The action was filed earlier this month by Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon, representing the Missouri Clean Water Commission and Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Mr. Froman’s problems surfaced in mid-2007, when West Side Gallatin neighbors began complaining of waste runoff into their ponds that caused contamination and fish kills. At that time, Mr. Froman agreed to gradually install devices and take other measures to funnel away and contain the waste water.

Contacted by the News-Press, Mr. Froman said he maintains a good relationship with state officials and is unconcerned over how the court case will proceed.

“We’re very satisfied with the way things are moving,” he said.

The state is asking the court to require Mr. Froman to pay a $5,000 penalty as an admission of fault for the contamination. Officials also said they would drop the lawsuit if Mr. Froman agreed to submit a permit application for a contained animal feeding operation. Otherwise, the penalties would amount to $10,000 daily per each violation.

According to the lawsuit, the DNR received a complaint in March 2007 of storm water runoff causing downstream pollution. Department officials conducted investigations at the auction that revealed the discharges were entering a Grand River tributary. Later, state water quality tests determined the presence of ammonia-nitrogen.

Inspectors noticed that June that holding pens had not been taken out of service and that vegetation was not planted to help control the runoff, as the state had ordered. A manure discharge was observed in July, and sediment traps that had been installed to separate manure from storm runoff were found to be ineffective.

The suit also said Mr. Froman failed to live up to terms of a proposed settlement that included runoff control.

In January, state investigators discovered manure stockpiled on the east side of the auction complex within a parking lot, a violation that would allow contamination of storm runoff. Contaminated storm water was noticed at the facility later that month and again in February.

Officials ask the court to require Mr. Froman to pay the penalties to the Daviess County School Fund as part of the settlement.

Mr. Froman has less than two weeks to file a response with the court, according to attorney general’s spokesman John Fougere. He made no other comments on the case.

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