Group seeks revocation of North Dakota dairy’s state permit   

The Dakota Resource Council and residents near a proposed large dairy in southeast North Dakota have filed an appeal of a state permit for the dairy, citing concerns about water quality. 

The North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality approved a permit on Jan. 3 for a 12,500-cow operation run by Riverview Dairy in Richland County. 

Dakota Resource Council, an environmental group, said in a news release Tuesday that it filed a notice of appeal with the South Central District Court in Bismarck on Feb. 3. The group is asking that the permit be revoked. 

The news release cites concerns over water pollution raised by the group, geohydrologist David Erickson, and 65 area residents in written comments.

Huge dairy farms planned for eastern North Dakota

The group contends the dairy threatens to pollute the Red River and other rivers with manure and other waste, and could harm aquifers that supply drinking water to residents of Abercrombie Township and cities of Wahpeton, North Dakota, and Breckenridge, Minnesota, and other communities. 

The Dakota Resource Council asserts that the state agency’s approval process contained multiple oversights, including insufficient monitoring, failure to hold a public hearing and not requiring a national pollution permit.

In announcing the permit’s approval, the Department of Environmental Quality said the permit was modified to include groundwater monitoring requirements and removed three fields in the floodplain from the dairy’s manure management plan. 

Riverview, based in Morris, Minnesota, operates several large milking operations in western Minnesota and is planning two large dairies in eastern North Dakota. 

The Department of Environmental Quality also is considering a permit for a 25,000-cow dairy near the Red River east of Hillsboro in Traill County. 

Riverview declined to comment on the appeal. 

Erik Olson is a member of Abercrombie Citizens for Responsible Growth that opposes the project. 

“If the state allows these mega dairy projects, they must also be prepared to allocate millions of taxpayer dollars when water resources are compromised,” Olson said in a news release.