Environmental Damage from the Mega-Dairys

In 2008, a mega-dairy in Madison County Ohio (where I live) drained their manure lagoon and spread 300,000 gallons of liquid manure on a local field. This is not a crime but the mega-dairy was not certified to do this and it showed because they did not take all the proper precautions. Problem 1; the field was wet from a previous rain. Problem 2; it rained just 1 day after the manure was spread. Problem 3; the spreading company did not check the drainage tile in the field to see if it was flowing properly. The company failed to check the weather report and the rain washed the manure into a local creek. Paint Creek (which runs behind my grandparent's house) suffered a loss of 5,634 fish due to the ammonia contaminated water. The mega-dairy and the manure spreading company plead guilty and were fined close to $28,000 for the damage. The companies deserved this punishment if not more for their irresponsibility. Many of the small creeks around me are children's fishing holes or water sources for livestock so i am surprised only the fish were effected. I hope that mega-dairy learned its lesson.