Soil, water board hear 3 complaints
CELINA — The Mercer Soil and Water Conservation District board of supervisors heard one allegation of improper manure application, one pollution complaint and one complaint regarding a manure stockpile at its monthly meeting on Thursday morning.
The most recent complaint was on Aug. 25 when the district received a call from a township trustee about a manure application located south of state Route 219 on the east side of U.S. 127.
The trustee had received a call from a concerned citizen and relayed the message.
District Technician Matt Heckler and District Administrator Michael Watercutter investigated the complaint which was located in the Grand Lake St. Marys watershed.
Heckler and Watercutter found that dairy holding pond manure was applied to a harvested silage field that sits on the south side of state Route 219 and on the east side of U.S. 127.
Heckler said that the applicator had a setback of 15 feet from the road ditch and after talking to the pro
ducer’s brother, he learned that they had applied roughly 13,000 gallons of manure per acre and that the application had occurred on Aug. 24, the day before.
Heckler said the producer was able to show a forecast that said there was less than a 50% chance of a half-inch of rain in 24 hours, which is required.
Liquid manure was pooled where the applicator had turned, Heckler said, but there was no evidence of runoff to waters of the state.
The catch basin north of the field and the side ditch were checked for runoff and no runoff was observed.
Heckler said that he and Watercutter discussed with the producer that the manure must be worked in within 24 hours of the application or it would be a violation.
Heckler checked the application on the morning of Aug. 26 and confirmed that the setback area was incorporated.
No discharge to waters of the state were observed and the complaint was deemed invalid since the producer met all of the setback and rate requirements for the application.
On Aug. 23, the district received a call at 11:30 a.m. about a concern with a manure stockpile located on Schaadt Road, west of Burrville Road.
Heckler and Watershed Technician James Couch investigated the complaint which was in the St. Marys River watershed.
The stockpile, which was steer manure and was approximately 50 feet long and 40 feet wide, was located on the south side of Schaadt Road in front of several turkey houses.
The pile was about 60 feet from the edge of the road.
Heckler talked to Frances Springer, resource management specialist with the Ohio Department of Agriculture, and explained the situation to her.
Heckler said he received a call from Cooper Farms explaining that they had been contacted by the same person about the stockpile.
Heckler got it contact with the landowner and told them that the manure stockpile did not meet the recommended setback but it wasn’t in violation of any rules since there
was no discharge observed entering waters of the state.
Heckler and Theresa Dirksen, the agriculture and natural resources director for Mercer County, stopped back at the site on Aug. 25 to see if there was any discharge from the previous night’s rain, but the two did not observe any discharge. They spoke with the landowner and several of Cooper Farms’ employees during the site visit and the landowner said that he would move the stockpile.
When revisiting the site on Aug. 31, Heckler and Couch verified that the stockpile had been moved.
The complaint was deemed invalid since there was no observed discharge to waters of the state.
On Aug. 13, Heckler received a call from Dave Schilt with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency about a fish kill in a creek near state
Route 707 and Erastus Durbin Road.
The complaint was received at 1:25 p.m. and it was located in the St. Marys River watershed.
Couch and Heckler responded to the complaint and arrived on scene at 2:10 p.m. ODA Division of Soil and Water Resources were notified about the compliant.
Ohio Department of Natural Resources Wildlife officers were on scene counting dead fish when Heckler and Couch arrived. Dead fish were present in the creek with Heckler saying that the fish ranged from a few inches to approximately 18 inches long. The wildlife officers thought the fish had been dead for three to four days.
Eight different locations were sampled for ammonia in the creeks. None of the samples tested above 1 part per million of ammonia.
Heckler said that the water in most of the sample locations appeared clear.
Heckler and Couch drove the watershed looking for possible sources but none were identified. Heckler guessed that it appeared a slug load of something traveled through the creek and killed the fish.
After speaking with the complainant, Heckler said they would call the office if they saw something similar in the future.