ERP - Environmental Risk Professionals

Livestock Waste

Farms and ranches that feed and maintain livestock generate animal waste which may contain pathogens, such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites; heavy metals, including copper; and pharmaceuticals, such as antibiotics and hormones. Liquefied manure may be stored in large lagoons or sprayed on a property. Spills, leaks, or stormwater run-off can contaminate soil, groundwater, and surface water sources. Impacts to drinking water sources can pose serious health risks for humans, aquatic systems, and other wildlife. An owner may incur cleanup, third-party, or natural resource damage liability.

Nutrient Pollution

Fertilizers and animal manure are rich in nitrogen and phosphorus and are a source of nutrient pollution. When water and soil containing excess nitrogen and phosphorus migrate in run-off into nearby waters or leach into groundwater, water quality may be impacted, algae blooms that damage ecosystems may occur, and aquatic life may be harmed. Drinking water sources impacted by elevated nitrogen and phosphorus levels can harm human health, causing conditions like blue-baby syndrome.

Air Emissions

As manure decomposes in pits, it can emit toxic gases, including ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, and methane. Spray application of liquefied manure can send pathogens, dust, and toxic gases into the air. Toxic air emissions can undermine the health of nearby residents and result in third-party bodily injury claims.

Odor Health Risks and Liability

The odor emitted from livestock farms can cause headaches, burning eyes, mood disturbance, and fatigue. A farm owner may incur third-party bodily injury liability.

Ecological Decay and Water Damage

Livestock overgrazing can reduce surface cover, increase soil erosion, and destroy stream banks and floodplain vegetation. Erosion and run-off of excess silt and sediment may occur, degrading water quality, adversely affecting channel stability, or causing ecological damage that threatens wildlife and aquatic systems.

Pesticide Run-off

Pesticides used on fields where livestock graze can leach through soil and into groundwater or become mobile through run-off or drift and enter surface water or adjacent properties. Pesticide contamination can impact drinking water sources, harm third parties, and cause natural resource damage to non-target organisms such as bees, aquatic systems, and other wildlife. Additionally, pesticide drift can damage neighboring crops.

Silage Leachate

Excessive silage leachate may be generated from improper silage making, such as being ensiled too wet and stormwater coming into contact with the silage. Improper controls can allow run-off of the leachate to enter surface water and groundwater. Silage leachate is typically highly acidic and can contain chemicals, ammonia, nitrates, and bacteria that can harm natural resources, aquatic life, and human health.

Carcass Disposal

Composting or burying animal carcasses can contaminate soil, groundwater, and stormwater run-off with chloride, nitrate, ammonia, disease-causing organisms, steroid hormones, antibiotics, and other pollutants. Carcasses may be burned at a feedlot, which can generate offensive odors, emit smoke high in particulate matter, and contain air pollutants, such as hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide, and sulfur dioxide.

Petroleum Spills

Farm equipment contains petroleum products, including fuels and oils, which can spill or leak from a rupture or malfunction of parts or equipment rollover. Releases can also occur from containers or tanks storing these materials. As a result, an owner may incur cleanup, third-party, and natural resource damage liability.

Waste Application

Livestock owners may apply animal waste to a third-party property or hire a contractor to perform the application. In either case, the owner can incur environmental liability related to this operation, including spills or releases of animal waste, run-off of pollutants from the waste, third-party exposure to toxic air emissions related to waste application, etc.

Loading and Transit

Accidental releases can occur during the loading/unloading or transportation of fuels, chemicals, or wastes due to improper cargo securement, a loose valve, or vehicle upsets or overturns. Whether the livestock owner is the transporter or arranges for transport, they can incur environmental liability for contamination or third-party harm caused by a release during transport.

Hazardous Waste Disposal

Generated wastes, such as excess pesticides and fertilizers, the rinse material from pesticide containers and spray equipment, wastewater containing fecal matter and pathogens, used automotive fluids, tires, batteries, and other maintenance materials, may be classified as hazardous and require special disposal procedures. A farm owner may incur liability related to the disposal of wastes at third-party properties.

On-site cleanup of new and pre-existing pollution conditions

Off-site cleanup of new and pre-existing pollution conditions

Third-party claims for bodily injury and property damage

Third-party claims for cleanup

Both sudden and gradual pollution conditions

Aboveground and underground storage tanks

Non-owned disposal sites

Natural resource damage

Business interruption resulting from pollution conditions

First and third-party transportation pollution liability

Mold, bacteria, viruses, legionella, and more

Loading and unloading

Defense of third-party claims

Illicit abandonment

Silt and sedimentation

Crisis/reputation management

Civil fines and penalties

Contracting operations completed “by or on behalf of” the insured

Claims Scenarios & Examples

Due to a pump failure, approximately 640,000 gallons of manure spilled from a dairy farm’s lagoon. The release flowed across the property, along a ditch, and into a nearby creek, resulting in a fish kill. The farm owner was responsible for the cleanup, which cost over $50,000.

A poultry farm that processed about two million chickens a week sprayed highly contaminated wastewater on farm fields. Groundwater was contaminated with nitrates, making it unsafe to drink. Neighbors of the farm suffered health issues, including bacterial infections, asthma attacks, stomach problems, and congenital disabilities. The neighbors filed lawsuits against the farm for cleanup, bodily injury, diminished property values, and medical monitoring. The state Department of Natural Resources issued a fine of $625,000 to the farm but agreed to lower it to $420,000 if the farm could find an alternative water source for the community and pay the expenses to provide it.

A feedlot had large earthen holding ponds on-site. A breach below the surface was discovered, and approximately 200,000 gallons of swine waste had drained from the breach. About 19 miles of the nearby creek were affected, and over 110,000 fish were found dead. The facility had to pay for fish restocking and investigation costs of over $71,000.

EPA inspectors visited a swine production facility. The inspectors found the facility improperly incinerating carcasses, resulting in strong odors. They also found that the facility was using a truck wash to clean manure solids and wastewater from trailers used to transport swine and discharging the wastewater to a creek that led to a major river. As a result, 25 miles of the creek and 33 miles of the river were contaminated with phosphorus concentrations that were so high marine life could not be supported. Fecal coliform bacteria were also so elevated that the water was unsafe for human contact.

A neighbor sued a feedlot owner for bodily injury due to odors and fumes caused by the use and spread of manure and herbicides/pesticides. She alleged that the feedlot operations caused her migraines and other issues. The farmer filed the bodily injury claim with their pollution insurance carrier for defense and indemnification.

A livestock owner had a large pile of sludge intended to fertilize grazing land. It was not being stored correctly, and the property owners were forced to move it away from adjacent drainage ditches. Water samples from the ditches contained extremely high levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, fecal coliform, E. coli, arsenic, and ammonia. The state filed a lawsuit for violating the Clean Water Act. The property owner argued that the water pollution could’ve come from various farms in the area; however, the suit was decided against him. Over $1 million was spent on defense costs alone.

Several farms used tens of thousands of gallons of manure on their fields. Also, a manure pit on one of the farms leaked 100,000 gallons of contaminated wastewater. The fields were located near residential properties, and several family members, including a 7-month-old, became seriously ill from groundwater wells that had been contaminated.

An 8,000-acre dairy farm hired a contractor to fell trees on the premises. As a result of the tree-felling operations, the road became rutted, and sediment migrated offsite in stormwater from heavy rainfall. The sediment-laden stormwater entered a nearby stream. A neighbor notified regulators of the pollution, and a claim was filed against the farm and contractor.

Several diesel tanks were located at a feedlot to fuel heavy-duty machinery and equipment used at the farm. A flood at the site knocked one of the tanks off its support, causing a release of fuel. The feedlot owners were liable for the extensive cleanup costs related to the release.

Manure was being pumped from a farm to a neighbor’s field for direct application. The piping used to transfer the manure was compromised when a snowmobile struck it. Approximately 1,000 gallons of manure were spilled before the feedlot owner noted the pressure drop and turned off the pump. The piping ran in a ditch adjacent to a wetland, and emergency response actions were taken to prevent the manure from reaching the wetland. The feedlot owner was liable for emergency response and cleanup costs.

Property Types

Agriculture - Livestock

Environmental Exposures May Include: