Disaster can strike even the best-managed farm. Advance planning and training is essential to minimize manure-handling emergencies, such as a discharge or spill. The plan outlined below should also be used as a framework for planning for other emergencies such as fire, medical or weather.
Prevention, of course, is the best strategy. Prevention involves two steps: planning (training) and inspection (awareness).
Examples of preventive practices include:
Planning for containment below the lagoon in direction of runoff. (Study the drainage patterns from your farm and envision where a manure discharge will move while it’s still on your property and after it leaves your property. Determine the point at which the discharge might enter surface waterways. For some farms, manure may travel long distances before entering a ditch or stream. In other cases, the stream may be nearby, demanding a much faster response).
Manure handling system maintenance:
Inspecting equipment regularly to verify it is in working condition.
Verifying that the lagoon and piping are functioning.
Providing warning devices and keeping good records.
Understanding the operation of application equipment.
Situation: A two-acre lagoon at near-maximum capacity during a major storm. If one area of the bank begins to erode, it’s conceivable that the liquid may spill over the bank, causing further erosion. If only one foot of liquid escapes before the bank is repaired, more than 650,000 gallons of manure will be discharged.
You should develop an emergency plan for your waste handling system. This plan will be implemented in the event that wastes from your operation are leaking, overflowing, or running off the site. You should NOT wait until the wastes reach surface waters or leave your property to acknowledge that you have a problem. (You should of course make every effort to ensure that this does not happen in the first place). The plan should be available to all employees at the facility, since accidents, leaks, and breaks could happen at any time. The accident plan should also be used as you conduct new worker training. Development of this plan will also decrease pollution risk through identification and elimination of possibilities, allow for coordinated and quick mitigation, and improve credibility with public, press, and authorities.
A well coordinated, timely response will show the professionalism and concern of the facilities personnel, and will help avoid many of the negative impacts of the emergency. Minimizing adverse impacts of an emergency is important because the stakes are high. Poor responses to emergencies can lead to personal injuries, economic losses, negative public reaction, and increased scrutiny by regulatory officials.
Have a detailed plan/schematic of the waste management system that a designated representative can use and follow. The action plan should involve the recognition and assessment of the problem, notification of authorities, enlistment of help from cooperating producers and others to correct the problem, and restoration of the affected area to its original condition. This plan should also include:
Your response to emergency situations will be governed by site- and situation-specific circumstances, which your own plan should address. However, there are responses you should consider based on the type of emergency you are experiencing. These responses can be broken down according to three stages of emergency defined as imminent pollution, pollution in progress, and pollution discovered after the fact.
These instructions should be available to all employees at the facility, as accidents, leaks, and breaks can happen at any time.
Imminent Pollution In this type of situation, there have not yet been any leaks or spills. However, ignoring the fact that an emergency exists will probably result in a spill or leak within a short time. The main sources of this type of emergency are when lagoons, holding ponds, or pits are nearing capacity, or when there is potential for wastes to run off an application field.
Storage capacity about to be exceeded. Long periods of excessive rain or malfunctioning livestock water systems may cause your storage to unexpectedly reach capacity. Your response should be to prevent the release of wastes. Depending on your situation, this may or may not be possible, but suggested responses to this type of problem include:
- Add soil to the berm to increase the elevation of the dam.
- Planned emergency utilization of manure by pumping onto fields at acceptable rates.
- Stop all additional flow to the storage (waterers).
- Call a pumping contractor.
- Make sure no surface water is entering the storage.
- Consider maintaining some grassland near the storage for emergency manure application.
These activities should be started when your lagoon level has exceeded the temporary storage level as defined in the lagoon sizing section of the Certified Livestock Managers’ Manual (Chapter 2).
Potential runoff from application field. This situation could result from unexpected rains during field application of manure. Again, the response is to prevent the release of wastes to neighboring areas. Possible solutions include:
- Immediately stop additional waste application.
- Create a temporary diversion or berm to contain the waste on the field.
- Incorporate waste to prevent further runoff.
Pollution in Progress. In this type of situation, the storage or waste handling system is actively leaking. Your main goals here are to stop the flow and minimize the impact of the leak on the environment.
Leaking or broken pipe, pit wall, or lagoon berm. These leaks may be seepage or flowing wastes. Response will depend on the level of the impact from the leaking waste (is it on your property or off?). Possible solutions include:
- Stop flow into pipe, pit, or lagoon.
- Prevent additional leaking of material by turning off recycle flushing system and irrigation pumps; closing valves controlling outflows; and preventing siphon effect.
- Dig a holding area or construct a berm to contain waste waters.
- Repair defective component such as berm leaks caused by animals; trap or remove animals and fill holes with compacted clay soil.
Lagoon problems may require the consultation of an individual experienced in the design and installation of lagoons for permanent repair measures.
Tankwagon leak or overturn. There is a good chance that this emergency will be off your property and may include personal injuries (e.g., automobile accident). If there are injuries in any livestock waste emergency, they take precedence over all other responses. Once injury response is taken care of, limiting the environmental impact becomes the main goal in responding to this type of emergency. Possible solutions include:
- Stop additional spill of material.
- Contain material that has spilled.
- Begin clean-up procedures.
- Contact appropriate agencies if waste is off your property or there is surface or ground water impacted including Illinois EPA; Illinois Department of Agriculture; local authorities as necessary; and CES, NRCS, and SWCD for advice and technical assistance.
Pollution Discovered After the Fact. This situation occurs when up to several days have passed before a leak is discovered. There is a potential for increased environmental impact due to the late discovery of waste leakage. Response should be swift in order to minimize damage as much as possible. Responses should include:
Did the waste reach any surface waters?
Approximately how much was released and for what duration?
Any damage noted, such as employee injury, fish kills, or property
damage?
In Illinois, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency is the contact if the spill leaves your property or enters surface waters. IEMA will notify the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the Illinois Department of Agriculture. Your phone call should be made within 24 hours and include: your name, facility, telephone number, the details of the incident, the exact location of the facility, and the location or direction of movement of the spill, weather and wind conditions, what corrective measures have been taken, and the seriousness of the situation.
IEMA Phone # 1-800-782-7860, 24 hours per day, seven days a week.
For other contacts see the Emergency Phone Number list.
All responses to emergencies should be documented and kept with the manure management plan as required in the Livestock Facilities Management Act. This documentation should include all agency and local authority contacts made during the response phase. This information can be used to assess response to the emergency, prepare for future problems, and train employees.
List any arrangements made with other producers to share personnel and/or equipment and supplies and land access during an emergency.
Pre-arranged land access agreements
Contact #1-
Contact #2-
Available 24 hours a day. Include phone numbers and primary contacts. Put list in the order you want equipment operators contacted. Copy posted in each animal building on site, in site office and owners residence. Preferably posted by a phone or main doorway if no phone.
| Owner | Phone | Location |
| Irrigation Pumps | ||
| Dozer/Highloader | ||
| Backhoe | ||
| Vacuum Tank | ||
Illinois EPA rules state: “For livestock facilities utilizing an earthen lagoon or other earthen waste storage structure, a provision that the owner, operator, or certified livestock manager shall inspect all berm tops, exterior berm sides, and non-submerged interior berm sides for evidence of erosion, burrowing animal activity, and other indications of berm degradation on a frequency of not less than once every two weeks.” This rule can be found in Title 35, Subpart C: Waste Management, Section 506.303, item “t”. It is part of the Waste Management Plan Contents.
The following sample checklist form can be used for each storage for the above self-inspection. This form also includes other items that should be checked periodically. Monitoring these items is not only a Good Management Practice, but also a good prevention tool. Repairing a potential berm problem is better than waiting until a major leak exists. Determining an odor problem exists may avoid the problem getting worse to the point that a complaint is filed.
Earthen Storage Checklist (Separate page for each storage)
Year:| Date of Inspection | |||||
| Freeboard (ft) | |||||
| Previous month rainfall amount | |||||
| Previous depth measurement and date of | |||||
| Present depth measurement | |||||
| Change | |||||
| seepage? | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N |
| erosion evident? | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N |
| maintenance needed? | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N |
| improvement needed? | |||||
| adequate markers? | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N |
| wave damage? | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N |
| cracks? | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N |
| seepage on outside of berm? | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N |
| damp, soft areas, slumps or bulges? | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N |
| rodent burrows? | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N |
| grass on berms and mowed? | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N |
| tree or bush growth? | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N |
| fence and gate in good condition? | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N | Y/N |
| Comments: | |||||