Photos Show Veblen Dairy Manure Ponds Ringed with Bales

Last year concerned citizens up around Big Stone Lake traced a plume of pollution coming into their aquatic gem all the way back up the watershed to the massive feedlots near Veblen. Those feedlots have maintained illegally high manure levels that have drawn citation from South Dakota's Department of Environment and Natrual Resources.

Now you can see for yourself the illegal activity. Citizens for Big Stone Lake have posted the aerial reconnaissance they performed last year. In photo after photo, in different months, you can see hay bales lining the large manure lagoons, trying to keep the waste from spilling over into the surrounding farmland and the watercourses that run to Big Stone Lake.

Now the dairy folks may claim that they built the lagoons to specs but had to improvise with the hay bales because of high winds... but come on: you're building in South Dakota. You didn't factor wind into your design? If the lagoons aren't big enough to contain the manure the Veblen dairies are generating, owner Rick Millner evidently needs to reduce the amount of manure and the number of cattle he crowds into his facility. But some people have trouble playing by the rules.