This exhibit presented by the Hoppers’ attorneys shows runoff in Lake Champlain near the Hopper and Vorsteveld properties. Photo courtesy of Addison County Superior Court An environmental group filed a lawsuit Tuesday against a Vermont dairy farm, alleging that the farm has dumped toxic chemic als into waterways feeding Lake Champlain at levels far exceeding federal and state standards.   Vorsteveld, LLP, an Addison County milking operation with more than 2,300 cows, was sued by the Conservation Law Foundation, an advocacy group in New England, and the Vermont Natural Resources Council, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting Vermont’s environment, for discharging pollution into tributaries feeding Lake Champlain.  The lawsuit claims that numerous pipes on the Vorsteveld farm pour pesticides into tributaries like Dead Creek without a permit to do so. Testing showed some toxic chemicals exceeded state and federal safety standards, some as much as 50 times higher. READ MORE “What we’re asking them to do is apply for a federal Clean Water Act permit which would cover the 11 outflows shown to be spewing alarming levels of pesticides into water that people recreate in,” Elena Mihaly, attorney and vice president at the Conservation Law Foundation said on Tuesday afternoon.  The lawsuit came at the end of a 60-day notice period of an intent to sue filed by the pair of non-profits in October. The plaintiffs met with Vorsteveld’s attorney during that period, but that meeting did not resolve the group’s issues, according to Mihaly. Over the two month period the Vorsteveld’s did not provide any evidence that their dumping practices had changed, Mihaly said.  “We know farmers deeply care about the impact they have on the community,” Mihaly said. “This is a situation where there are subsurface drainage outfalls not being monitored by the farm, and this is an opportunity to change course once presented with the evidence.”  Under federal law, farms are allowed to send runoff into local waterways if the farm is monitored under a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation, or CAFO, permit under the Clean Water Act. The Vorstevelds are defined as a large CAFO, or one housing 700 or more mature dairy cows for more than 45 days. Arnold Bay, and a nearby farm and water treatment plant in Addison County, near the Vorsteveld Farm. Photo by Paulette Brogan Adopting such a permit could require the farm to measure contaminants that are coming out of their pipes. The farm could then implement best management practices like better design of their subsurface drains, better crop selection or better pesticide application across their fields. The lawsuit comes on the heels of Vermont’s own violations of the Clean Water Act. Last summer, the Environmental Protection Agency determined the state had failed to properly administer the federal rule on its agricultural lands after the Conservation Law Foundation, the Vermont Natural Resources Council and the Lake Champlain Committee filed a complaint.  Now, the Agency of Natural Resources, the state agency that oversees the federal law, has to come into compliance by inspecting farms and issuing permits to protect water quality. As of June, the state had issued zero CAFO permits in the more than 50-year history of the Clean Water Act. Julie Moore, secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources, said her office needed more time to review the allegations against the Vorsteveld farm.  READ MORE “Specifically, as far as we know, the complaint is the first citizen suit filed in Vermont under the Clean Water Act,” Moore said in a text. She said the suit raised a number of new issues related to the agency’s regulatory jurisdiction. The Conservation Law Foundation is not monitoring any other farms for similar levels of pollution, Mihaly said. The organization focused on the Vorstevelds because the contamination was so visible from the outfall pipes, she added. “They jut out directly into Dead Creek, which is a waterway where lots of people are recreating, like fishing and birdwatching,” Mihaly said. “We started taking some samples and seeing the alarmingly high levels of some of the pollutants piqued our interest.”  Since April 2024, the nonprofits worked with Burlington-based engineering firm VHB to collect 92 water samples from public access points to the Vorsteveld’s pipes; the lawsuit named 16 pesticides the farmers applied to their fields.  Those included atrazine, an herbicide banned in Europe and linked to birth defects and cancers, was found in concentrations 50 times higher than what the EPA considers safe for drinking water, according to the lawsuit. Clothianidin, a neonicotinoid insecticide that can hurt pollinator populations, was found in 99 percent of samples at concentrations exceeding the EPA’s safety benchmark.  “No polluter should be allowed to discharge pesticides and other harmful pollution at these excessively high levels,” Lauren Hierl, executive director of the Vermont Natural Resources Council, said in a media statement.  The Vorstevelds could still settle with the environmental groups. The next step is for the farm owners to answer the complaint admitting to or denying the allegations.  Gerard Vorsteveld, one of three brothers who runs the farm, did not reply to a phone call by the time of publication.  VTDigger reached out to Vorsteveld attorney Claudine Safar who texted back, “Leave me alone.” The Monaghan Safar law firm did not provide an additional statement. Read the story on VTDigger here: Vermont farm hit with claims of dumping toxins into Lake Champlain waterways. ...read more read less