Thief River Falls feedlot declared public health hazard

For the first time, a large feedlot in Minnesota has been declared a public health hazard, state health officials said Tuesday.

Excel Dairy, just north of Thief River Falls, has violated state air quality standards hundreds of times during the past three months and caused several nearby families to leave their homes repeatedly since May.

The families have complained of headaches, nausea, breathing problems and sore throats from foul-smelling hydrogen sulfide emissions from huge manure pits that hold the waste of the dairy's 1,525 cows.

The announcement bolsters state and federal legal efforts to force the dairy to reduce the odors.

"There needs to be immediate measures taken to stop these emissions," said Rita Messing, Minnesota Department of Health toxicologist. Messing presented the results of a federal-state "exposure investigation" to Marshall County commissioners on Tuesday afternoon.

Dairy officials said that odors may be a nuisance but do not constitute a health problem, and they called a health report about the dairy "intellectually dishonest."

Rick Millner, CEO of Prairie Ridge Management Co. of Veblen, S.D., which manages the dairy, blamed the odors on a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency requirement that the dairy empty and excavate one of its manure pits to see whether it was leaking into groundwater.

"I don't want problems with the neighbors," said Millner. "But we were ordered to do something, we did it, it didn't work out and everybody turns on us."

Jeff Brouse, who lives near the dairy, said that his family and several neighbors have had to leave their homes repeatedly since the stench worsened in May. It remained intolerable for much of the summer.

"We're living in a total nightmare," said Brouse. "My wife is four months pregnant, and her doctor said you're not supposed to be there. But what are we supposed to do when it's our home?"

A dozen families with about 40 people live within a mile of the dairy.

Monitors find violations

In May, state pollution control officials installed two continuous air monitors at the dairy's fence line. In the next four months they found that the standard for hydrogen sulfide was exceeded more than 300 times. Federal scientists from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry installed monitors at three nearby residences in July and found hydrogen sulfide levels up to seven times above what federal officials consider to be safe.

Excel's parent company also owns New Horizon Dairy in west-central Minnesota and a handful of other dairies in the Dakotas. The MPCA is also monitoring the air near New Horizon.

At low concentrations of a few parts per billion, hydrogen sulfide is a nuisance, and its rotten-egg smell can cause headaches, eye and throat irritation, vomiting and diarrhea. However, chronic exposure even to low levels of hydrogen sulfide can lead to memory problems, dizziness, fatigue and loss of appetite, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

State air quality rules allow no more than 30 parts per billion as a half-hour average, no more than twice during a five-day period.

The dairy's Millner said that standard is too low and that federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) standards allow workers to be exposed to 20,000 parts per billion. Citing that and a consultant's study, Millner said the state has no legitimate basis for declaring the dairy a public health hazard.

"The Department of Health has created hysteria and has not acted responsibly," he said. "There's not a health threat."

However, Messing said that a state and federal agency would not declare a public health hazard if one did not exist. OSHA standards are not appropriate for communities, Messing said, which include people with compromised health, the very young and the very old. "The Minnesota rules are really bright lines and they should be enforced," she said.

Other officials weigh in

The dispute is already in court. In June, the MPCA ordered the dairy to reduce odors by covering its manure pits with straw or a liner. The company declined to do so, saying that covers would reduce emissions only slightly, and would cause bigger problems. The Minnesota attorney general's office and the MPCA sued June 20 to abate the public nuisance.

The Marshall County attorney has also filed a nuisance action against the company, and in July the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a notice of violation to the dairy.

The state was in court Friday asking District Judge Jeffrey Remick to order Excel to reduce emissions. The judge took the matter under advisement.

Millner said the legal complications are interfering with the dairy's ability to talk with regulators and agree on the best and quickest way to reduce the odors.

"This is mind-boggling to me," he said. "You end up going to court with one agency and they keep piling on. We're getting run over by government."

Brouse, the neighbor, just wants the problems to end. On a recent Friday, he and his wife and two young daughters again left home overnight because of the odors.

"We came home late Saturday hoping the stink would be gone but it was just as bad that night," Brouse said. "We just lit candles and locked the doors."

Tom Meersman • 612-673-7388