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DEQ Water Sample Data
Lenawee & Hillsdale
County CAFO Monitoring
Discharge Events, March
2004
Some sites of ag waste
discharge show Ammonia, Phosphorus, and Chloride at levels
"greater than that typically found in
strong untreated municipal wastewaters"
Days of Discharge
During a period of extensive CAFO manure discharges in March, 2004, DEQ's
Surface
Water Quality Assessment Section (SWQAS) conducted comprehensive water
monitoring at numerous sites of CAFO discharges. Water chemistry tests
included Dissolved Oxygen, Chloride, CBOD5, Total dissolved solids, Total
suspended solids, Total phosphorus, Ammonia, and other parameters.*
Discharges at numerous sites continued for many days.
DEQ sampled field tile discharges, field runoff, and country drain sites at Vreba-Hoff 1, Vreba-Hoff 2, and New Flevo Dairy, all of which received multiple violations for illegal waste discharges. Control sites included tiles from fields with no CAFO impact (such as a tile to Lime Creek, upstream from Tamarack Rd), and historical samples from a pre-CAFO stream (Hazen Creek at Beecher Rd, 1967). The contrast with historical, pre-CAFO water samples and with control samples was dramatic, especially Ammonia, Chloride, and nutrient levels.
Some CAFO discharge sites (for instance, overflow from a blown-out tile, draining to a tributary of Durfee Creek) showed Ammonia and total phosphorus "at levels typically found in raw municipal sewage," and Chloride at a level "greater than that typically found in strong untreated municipal wastewaters."
In the Vreba-Hoff report, DEQ states: "From fields
applied with agricultural waste West of Dillon Hwy discharging overland
and from a tile blow out to a wooded wetland, through a tributary to Durfee
Creek, we observed discharges on 3/1/04, 3/2/04, and 3/5/04. Samples were
collected and anaylsis shows high levels of nutrients and high BOD indicative
of agricultural waste effluent entering waters of the state in violation
of 3112 [Michigan's Natural Resource Protection Act]."
Sample 3/2/04 - CAFO waste overflow from blownout tile,
draining to wooded wetland (Bean Creek Watershed)
Chloride
188 mg/l (approx.
100 mg/l in untreated municipal waste)
CBOD5
70 mg/l
(in natural streams 4-10 mg/l)
Total dissolved solids 1300 mg/l (Michigan
water standard - 500 mg/l or less monthly average)
Total phosphorus 2.7
mg/l (Michigan water standard - 1.0 mg/l or
less)
Ammonia
21 mg/l (in natural streams
approx. 0.10 mg/l)
Control sample 3/1/04 - tile from unmanured field to
Lime Creek (Bean Creek Watershed)
Chloride
2 mg/l
CBOD5
<2 mg/l
Total dissolved solids 280 mg/l
Total phosphorus 0.03
mg/l
Ammonia
0.02 mg/l
Historical pre-CAFO sample 12/18/67 - Hazen Creek at
Beecher Rd/M-34
Chloride
14 mg/l
CBOD5
1.6 mg/l
Total dissolved solids 392 mg/l
Total phosphorus 0.20
mg/l
Ammonia
0.0 mg/l
Risks to downstream waters
The DEQ report notes that CBOD5 in the 3/2/04 sample from the blownout
tile "may cause negative impacts on receiving water dissolved
oxygen (DO) concentrations." The Ammonia, phosphorus, and
Total dissolved solids are at levels found in "raw municipal
sewage."
Similar raw sewage-strength results were found at the same CAFO site three
days later, 3/5/04:
Chloride
116 mg/l
CBOD5
76 mg/l
Total dissolved solids - not analyzed
Total phosphorus 4.8
mg/l
Ammonia
24 mg/l
In addition to the risks from BOD and nutrient pollution, Ammonia is a serious contaminant in streams and can put aquatic life at risk. A recent Michigan Natural Features Inventory survey of freshwater mussels in Bean Creek noted that "ammonia disproportionately affects juveniles versus adults, and could prevent recruitment in the population in spite of an abundance of live adults." (See more details on MNFI survey of Bean Creek freshwater mussels)
*For key water quality parameters and explanations, click here.
For full SWQAS reports, full data from 27 CAFO samples, contact: Yuronda Glasscoe at 517-373-2190 or by e-mail at glasscoy@michigan.gov