Judge upholds permit for North Dakota’s largest dairy

A judge has upheld a North Dakota environmental agency’s permit issued for what is planned to be the state’s largest dairy farm.

The Dakota Resource Council challenged the Department of Environmental Quality’s permit for the Herberg Dairy in Traill County. The animal feeding operation permit covered areas such as manure management and water water discharge for the planned 25,000-cow Herberg Dairy southeast of Hillsboro, near the Red River.

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It is one of two large dairies being built in North Dakota’s Red River Valley by Riverview, based in Morris, Minnesota. 

East Central District Court Judge Susan Bailey issued the ruling affirming the permit Oct. 1. Bailey heard arguments on the permit challenge in July in Hillsboro. 

Dani Replogle is the attorney for the environmental group Food and Water Watch that represented the Dakota Resource Council.

“My main takeaway from the opinion is that this is just another instance of courts deferring to agencies despite evidence showing that they (the agencies) are not doing their job,” Replogle said Wednesday. “North Dakotans deserve better.”

The lawsuit named Riverview as well as the Department of Environmental Quality.

“We appreciate the court’s review and decision,” the agency said in a statement. “We remain committed to a thorough, transparent permitting process grounded in sound science and consistent application of the law to protect human health and the environment.” 

Riverview officials did not return voicemail or email messages sent Wednesday. 

Jim Murphy, economic development director for Traill County, said Riverview has started construction in earnest on the Herberg Dairy, after initial work on housing for dairy workers. 

The Dakota Resource Council and a group of Wahpeton-area landowners also have filed suit against the North Dakota Department of Water Resources. They are challenging a water sale for Riverview’s other Red River Valley milking operation, the Abercrombie Dairy in Richland County. 

Reach North Dakota Monitor deputy editor Jeff Beach at [email protected]