4 Brothers Dairy Inc. and its owner, Andrew Fitzgerald, 60, of Shoshone, Idaho, pleaded guilty to unlawful discharge of pollutant into a water of the U.S., a misdemeanor violation of the Clean Water Act, according to U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis.

The discharge took place during heavy flooding in 2017.

According to court records, the dairy has at least 1,000 head of cattle and maintains wastewater lagoons adjacent to the Milner-Gooding Canal, which flows to the Malad River and on to the Snake River.

In the winter of 2017, record precipitation, record snowpack and flooding occurred, leading to extreme runoff at the 4 Bros. property. In February 2017, during the flooding, 4 Bros. and Fitzgerald negligently caused discharges of manure laden water into the Milner-Gooding Canal at three locations, according to court records.

As part of the plea agreements, the parties have jointly recommended that 4 Bros. pay a fine of $95,000 and that Fitzgerald pay a fine of $35,000. In addition, 4 Bros. has agreed to submit a notice of intent to seek coverage under the Environmental Protection Agency’s CAFO National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit program for Idaho.

In April 2017, Capital Press reported the Idaho State Department of Agriculture issued a $70,000 penalty to the dairy for seven unauthorized releases of wastewater off the property and into the canal.

The discharges occurred Feb. 20-23 during the flooding. The agency was alerted to the problem by the dairy owner on Feb. 20.

In April 2017, Fitzgerald told Capital Press the dairy is designed to contain all the wastewater from the facility in lagoons but an unprecedented amount of snowmelt from neighboring fields overwhelmed the dairy’s containment capacity. The dairy’s dam to prevent run-on from those fields gave way.

“There was nothing we could physically do. It was a wall of water,” Fitzgerald said at the time.

Heavy snow followed by warmer weather and rain caused the flooding. Lincoln County, where the dairy is located, and the state declared a disaster.

At the time, local disaster declarations related to flooding and winter weather included 31 counties in Idaho, and state declarations include 24 counties, according to the Idaho Office of Emergency Management.

“My office takes very seriously the responsibility of protecting Idaho’s precious natural resources,” Davis said in a press release.

“We will not hesitate to hold accountable any company or individual that pollutes United States waterways located in Idaho,” he said.

Sentencing for the dairy and Fitzgerald has been set for Jan. 14 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Candy W. Dale.

The case was investigated by the Environmental Protection Agency, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, Idaho State Department of Agriculture and the Lincoln County Sheriff’s office.