Vermont’s Attorney General on Wednesday announced a settlement with St. Albans Creamery over alleged water quality violations at its Franklin County processing plant.
The creamery and former co-op — which merged with the Dairy Farmers of America in 2019 — operates under a federal pretreatment permit, awarded by Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources under the Clean Water Act.
The permit requires the business to process its milk- and cream-laden raw wastewater before sending it to St. Albans’ municipal wastewater treatment facility.
Between 2021 and 2024, ANR found St. Albans Creamery violated that permit on multiple occasions by sending effluent straight to the town treatment plant, according to the settlement. This overwhelmed the facility and compromised water quality in nearby Stevens Brook, a tributary of Lake Champlain.
The settlement alleges that St. Albans Creamery violated the terms of its permit on other occasions too, by exceeding restrictions on flow and pH levels in the effluent it sent to the wastewater plant, as well as limits on phosphorus. The settlement also alleges the creamery’s on-site wastewater system wasn’t always adequately staffed.
“We all treasure our environment and natural resources in Vermont,” said Attorney General Charity Clark in a press release. “I am very pleased that St. Albans Creamery has made a commitment to take the necessary actions to prevent further harmful discharges of raw milk wastes.”
Under the settlement, the creamery will pay a fine of $210,500 and put in place a plan to prevent future wastewater discharges that includes upgrading its existing pretreatment system and hiring new staff to oversee its operations.
In a statement, the business’s parent company, Dairy Farmers of America, said it’s already made “significant investments” to upgrade its wastewater system to comply with its federal pretreatment permit.
