Violation given for improper animal waste disposal after heavy rains 

 

MILL SPRING—The Tryon International Equestrian Center has received another state violation, this time for improper disposal of animal waste.  

TIEC recently received a state fine for water quality violations and had to pay a more than $64,000 fine.  

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Water Resources Division issued a notice of violation of its animal waste disposal permit on March 6 after inspectors said that horse manure was being spread on saturated fields.  

There were five violations cited, including a violation of the certified animal waste management plan and animal waste operation permit; land application of waste during precipitation events; land application of waste on land that is flooded, saturated with water, frozen or snow covered; the facility must have a legal agreement with a permitted third party or manure hauler to transport the waste generated and a violation of monitoring and reporting requirements, including maintaining adequate records tracking the amount of waste stored and disposed of.  

TIEC has 15 days within the receipt of the violations to respond, which will be by Thursday of this week.  

TIEC Chief Operating Officer Sharon Decker said the violations have been addressed. She said in TIEC’s waste management plan, they can spread manure over a ground area, but the violation came because they spread manure while the ground was saturated, which she admits was an error on TIEC’s part.  

Decker said the spreading was not done in an inappropriate area, but the ground was wet, as rain has been a challenge over the last year.  

Decker also said as soon as TIEC learned of the violation, they immediately stopped spreading manure and is now storing it in a covered area.  

TIEC can hold up to 1,500 horses, so are looking for ways to dispose of animal waste, according to Decker.  

One way could be to convert it to fuel, according to Decker. She said TIEC is beginning to explore those options for long-term solutions.  

TIEC received two violations previously from the state for animal waste disposal as well as two different water quality violations over the past few years. The water quality violations were from sediment following construction. The DEQ said the animal waste violations did not affect any streams.