WATERTOWN — Northern New York’s largest dairy farm has been heavily fined after 14 million litres of liquid manure poured out of an earthen lagoon and found its way into a river, killing 200,000 to 250,000 fish.

The August 11 spill is the worst of its kind in the United States, agricultural extension agent for Cornell University Mike Hunter, in nearby Jefferson County, told Farmers Forum "The lagoon had a dyke all the way around it. The dyke gave way. It started to overflow. The erosion and pressure was enough to blow the dyke out."

Marks Dairy Farm, south of Watertown, New York, a two-hour drive south of Brockville, milks 2,400 cows and was fined by the New York state Department of Environmental Conservation. The fines include:

In Ontario, on-farm spills that can potentially affect water quality have increased and could now involve a fine of up to $50,000 for each day the spill has not been cleaned up. A more serious first-time offence that includes obstruction or failure to notify the Ministry of Environment could mean a maximum fine of $4 million and up to five years in jail.

After the New York incident, some farmers are left wondering what to do to prevent the side of a lagoon from giving way and how to stop a spill if it happens on their farm.

In the New York case the lagoon "wasn’t in full view of the farm, at least several hundred metres away," Mike Hunter said. "It was a little out of sight and out of mind."

Hunter added that all New York dairy farms should protect themselves from liability by having a nutrient management plan, similar to what is required in Ontario. "Get an engineer to design and certify the pit to meet specifications," he said. "You need an approved plan and an emergency action plan and everyone on the farm needs to know where it is. This is critical."

Agriculture extension agent, Frans Vokey, in Lewis County, where the spill occurred, said the farm family is distraught about what happened. It is not clear whether or not the lagoon meets state requirements. "That’s still part of the investigation," he said. The liquid manure killed up to 250,000 fish in about 30 km of the Black River and was prevented from entering Lake Ontario, just south of Kingston.

Agricultural extension agents in New York state, the equivalent to OMAF’s ag reps, have been teleconferencing to mobilize an effort to counsel farmers to have approved lagoons and emergency plans, Vokey said.