Callicrate Cattle Company receives orders from agency
By Karen Krien | karen.k@nwkansas.com
Environmental Protection Agency Region 7 on Monday issued administrative compliance orders to six concentrated animal feeding operations in Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska, directing those operations to correct a range of violations of the federal Clean Water Act. Among those listed was Callicrate Feeding Company, St. Francis.
The enforcement activity, is aimed at encouraging producers’ compliance with the Clean Water Act and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permitting program.
According to the report, an inspection in February identified failure to maintain adequate waste water storage capacity, failure to meet nutrient management plan requires, failure to conduct operations within areas that are controlled to prevent pollution and failure to maintain adequate records.
A.J. Jones, manager of the feed yard, was mad when talked to on Tuesday. We were following the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s instructions, he said, noting that the only violation might have been in keeping exact records.
Callicrate Cattle Company has been operating without issue under the rules of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment for over 20 years, said Mike Callicrate, owner.
“I don’t understand why the Environmental Protection Agency is involved or why the Kansas Department of Health and Environment has appeared to cede their authority to the Feds,” Mr. Callicrate said. “The department of health and environment has authorized us to operate as we currently are.
“We run the cleanest cattle feeding operation I know of. We have never discharged even one drop of water outside our facility – never!”
Mr. Callicrate was also outraged that hay was being classified as a pollutant, requiring to be stored in a controlled discharge area.
“This really smells!” he said.
The order requires the operation to comply with all terms of the Clean Water Act and its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, and to coordinate with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment on its compliance. The order requires that the feed yard comply with the terms of its nutrient management plan, including sampling and record keeping requirements. The feedlot has a permitted capacity of 12,000 cattle and was confining approximately 3,219 cattle at the time of the inspection.
Mr. Jones said anyone can visit the feed yard anytime and he will be glad to show them where the charges are coming from.
EPA complaint“We have nothing to hide. We run a clean yard and I will be glad to have people come,” Mr. Jones concluded.
Schedule your visit today by going to CallicrateCattleCo.com and clicking on Contact Us!
Related Information:
EPA’s ‘LETHAL’ ACTION THREATENS ALL FAMILY FARM AGRICULTURE — $37,500 per day per violation!
It is just way past time to bring groups together – all independent farming groups, ranching groups, anti-NAIS/ADT groups, food groups, chef groups, anti-GMO groups, health groups, nutrition groups, science as evidence (not fiction) groups, constitutional groups, civil rights groups, human rights groups, all racial and ethnic groups, environmental groups, water protection groups, climate groups, all religious groups, parents groups, and others.
We all know that family farming is THE means to provide food security, safe food, healthy food, provide decent treatment of animals. restore our land, heal the environment, and rebuild our children and everyone’s health, rebuild our soil, rebuild our communities, rebuild our economy, and rebuild our democracy.
Farming is what we all depend on for life. These corporate outfits are making us sick, destroying our land and as one can plainly see from what has happened to Mike Callicrate, sucking the life out of the truth, freedom and democracy itself. The bankers and corporations have grabbed onto government like a cancer and gotten laws passed with huge powers, by saying it’s to stop corporate abuse. This is a joke. They are using those powers against the people of this country in order to take over food here.
If they can lie and define hay as a pollutant at their whim, and use that lie to fine Callicrate into the ground, they can do this to anyone at all.
In India, they’ve said they’ve had enough of corruption. Even actors are saying it’s beyond the limit of what the country can stand. LIsten to their leading actors commenting as a nonviolent national movement has taken off there which now includes farmers, the poor, doctors, lawyers, judges, housewives, students, professors, … everyone. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cy0KyvVpMqo&feature=related
EPA’s lie about hay could be “the straw” that broke the camel’s back here.
The mercury in the Compact Florescent bulbs that the government is forcing down our throats is more of an environmental hazard than hay and/or grain. However since the CEO of GE is one of the current President’s advisers putting mercury into landfills evidently is not as problematic as hay. Hay which prior to being harvested converts CO2 into oxygen, an environmentalists dream come true.
Unlike GE, who ships jobs to China, the farmers and ranchers of this nation provide jobs here in this nation.
I cannot help but wonder if some political toes were stepped on during the Pickett lawsuit which involved Tyson, a corporation Hillary Clinton at one time owned stock in.