A report obtained by WZBD by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management shows several violations at a rural Decatur lagoon that has been the subject of pretty intense scrutiny over the last two months after several large dumps created foul odors that stunk up the city of Decatur and surrounding areas.
In the report, the Girod Lagoon, located on 750 N, west of Decatur, was cited for accepting two separate wastewater dumps from the Bunge plant in Decatur, totaling over one million gallons.
According to the report,
On June 8th, 2023, this farm received 469,145 gallons of pollutant-bearing water from Bunge. On April 1st, 2024, they received an additional 732,426 gallons of the pollutant-bearing water from Bunge. … The water from Bunge was placed in lagoon E9 and mixed with manure. A permit was not obtained to store the pollutant-bearing water in the lagoon.
-IDEM report of girod farms lagoon
The waste remained in the lagoon until the surrounding farmland, which is planted in alfalfa, was harvested. In the second week of August, the following actions were noted in the report:
-On the evening of August 8th, the alfalfa field surrounding the farm received an application (with proper permits) of processed lime sludge from the Auburn Wastewater Treatment Plant at an application rate of half a ton per acre.
-On August 10th and on August 11th, 2,227,651 gallons of comingled manure and pollutant-bearing water from Bunge were applied to the alfalfa field around lagoon E9.
The state report notes that a land application permit was not obtained prior to applying the pollutant-bearing water.
The report also notes that the state chemist is conducting his own investigation.
Additionally, the report showed additional satellite manure intake records, showing that in the past three years, the lagoon has accepted nearly 3 million gallons of liquid waste from farms in Ohio.
In total, the farm has received 6.1 million gallons since January 1st of 2022 from outside farms.
The report was triggered by several complaints and the IDEM performed the field visit and documented the violations on August 15th.
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