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Are Colorado's cattle feedlots a risk to waterways?
Colorado boasts over a hundred cattle feedlots capable of holding over a thousand animals, according to the state's Department of Public Health and Environment. Many of those operations are close to waterways. Like in other states, it's up to cattlemen and regulators to keep manure out of streams and groundwater. Environmentalists worry that will get trickier as historic rain events become more common.
Such a situation has become a legal drama for 5 Star Feedlot. The operation is a few miles upstream from Hale Ponds, where Kenny Condrey found all those dead fish.
Colorado filed a lawsuit against 5 Star for killing nearly 15,000 fish in the South Fork of the Republican River. Kansas officials estimate over 200,000 additional fish may have died across the state line.
Officials claim the fish kill was the results of an illegal discharge of wastewater from 5 Star. Since wildlife is legally considered state property, Colorado Parks and Wildlife has sued the feedlot for around $450,000 dollars in damages. A judge in Yuma County is set to hear the case in February 2018.
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