State, county, town settle with Teabow Farms
Nearly two years after pipes burst twice at Teabow Farms, sending 500,000 gallons of wastewater and manure into the Town of Walkersville's drinking water, the farm's owners have reached a settlement with the Maryland Department of the Environment and paid the town and the county back for expenses related to the spill.
A judgment filed in Frederick County Circuit Court on Oct. 16 requires the dairy farm to improve its waste management system and pay $30,000 to the state's environmental department for violation of the state's water pollution laws, spokesman Jay Apperson said. The necessary upgrades to the system include installing an alarm, implementing a self-inspection program and implementing a discharge permit compliance checklist to prevent future discharges into Glade Creek, he said.
An department investigation in 2008 revealed that the farm failed to alert the necessary authorities after the two January spills. A neighbor whose well water turned brown informed the state of the incident. Glade Creek and Walkersville's drinking water were contaminated with fecal coliform and E. Coli, both of which can cause significant illness in humans, according to complaint issued in 2008 by the department.
The filed judgment also requires Teabow Farms to pay the Maryland Department of Natural Resources $4,150 to compensate for fish that were killed as a result of the spill, Apperson said. According to a 2008 inspection, they were state-protected trout in Fountain Rock Park.
Wendy Kearney, Frederick County's deputy state's attorney, said the county received a check from the farm for $199,356 in September for expenses accrued when the county set up a temporary water line to Walkersville and did some water testing after the spill. Walkersville recently received a check for $55,644 from the farm for damages to the town, said Burgess Ralph Whitmore.
"I'm very happy," he said. "It's all behind us."
Representatives of Teabow Farms did not return calls for comment this week.
E-mail Courtney Pomeroy at cpomeroy@gazette.net.
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