Steuben dairy farm faces EPA sanctions
FORT WAYNE - Steuben County dairy has been found in violation of numerous environmental standards, including allowing illegal waste discharges, a report from the Environmental Protection Agency said.During the inspection, a verbal agreement with the dairy’s owner was made to permanently plug the drain tile outlet from the pond.
The 39-acre, 900-cattle dairy was inspected Oct. 19 by officials from the U.S. EPA and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, the report said.
The dairy is owned by Vreba-Hoff Dairy Development, LLC, based in Wauseon, Ohio.
Local operator Simon DeJong, who moved to Steuben County from the Netherlands, declined to comment Thursday, saying he hadn’t received a copy of the report.
The farm received county approval in June 2005 to expand from about 550 cattle to 900. A request to bump that number up to 1,200 was denied last year by the county commissioners.
Source: The Journal Gazette