The Wisconsin Cheese Group, LLC was sentenced to one year of probation for violating the Clean Water Act and must pay a $237,500 fine.
The Monroe-based cheese maker also must make improvements to its facility and work more closely with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources on future permitting issues.
The company pleaded guilty to the violation on June 4. U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita M. Boor handed down the sentence on Aug. 13.
Officials with the Wisconsin Department of Justice said Wisconsin Cheese Group released untreated wastewater from the plant into the municipal sewer between June 6, 2022, and Nov. 5, 2022. This happened on 19 days during that period.
Company officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
The company exceeded the biological oxygen demand limit in its own permit by high margins, including multiple discharges that exceeded the limit by more than 1,500%, Chadwick M. Elgersma, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, said in a statement.
At the time of the discharges, the company did not have specific controls to ensure compliance with its permit and did not adequately train employees on wastewater management, Elgersma said.
“The defendant’s criminally negligent discharges of untreated industrial wastewater into the publicly owned sewer system disrupted the system on multiple occasions,” said Allison Landsman, Special Agent in Charge of the Environmental Protection Administration’s criminal enforcement program in Wisconsin.
In handing down the sentence, Boor described the violations as “entirely avoidable” with better planning as the company ramped up production at its Monticello plant.
Instead, the company “overwhelmed” the local wastewater treatment plant and became a “neighborhood polluter,” the judge said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan Stelljes, of Madison, prosecuted this case.
Chris Ramirez covers courts for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be reached at caramirez@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Cheese Group fined $237K for Clean Water Act violations
Reporting by Chris Ramirez, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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By Chris Ramirez, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
