Last month, the Illinois Environment Protection Agency cited Inwood Dairy LLC, the state's largest dairy operation, for violating several environmental regulations. After repeated pollution violations by this Elmwood facility, they are finally being held responsible for their actions. I would like to thank the IEPA for fulfilling its duty as a protector of our natural resources.

From the beginning, this operation has plagued its neighbors and surrounding environment with repeated water and odor pollution problems. In 1997, during construction of the 1,250-head facility, five incidents of creek pollution occurred from storm water discharges and silage leachate. The pattern of pollution continued for this factory farm operation with illegal manure lagoon discharges both last year and this summer.

After continued complaints from local citizens about the environmental degradation caused by Inwood Dairy, the IEPA has now stepped in to do something about this situation. IEPA has recommended corrective actions for this facility, including keeping lowered waste levels in the lagoon to decrease occasions of lagoon overflow. The state EPA has also restricted expansion of the facility until it has successful odor control techniques in place.

IEPA deserves recognition for their work in helping to fight the degradation of our land, water and air by factory farm polluters like Inwood Dairy. Their job could be made much easier, however, if their focus shifted from enforcement actions after pollution events occur, to developing strong regulations and controls to prevent pollution before these bad actors can commit the crime.