Two environmental nonprofits are alleging the Vorsteveld Farm in Panton is illegally discharging pesticides into a tributary of Lake Champlain.
Vermont Natural Resources Council and Conservation Law Foundation said they tested water from five pipes that drain into Dead Creek and found roughly 15 pesticides from April 2024 to July 2025.
Elena Mihaly with Conservation Law Foundation said they’re not looking to put the farm out of business, but for the farm to change some of their practices to protect water quality.
“We’re expecting the farmers to take stock of the pollution problems we’re presenting and begin considering a range of strategies that they can deploy to mitigate the pollution concerns,” Mihaly said.
Vermont Public reached out to Hans Vorsteveld, one of the farm’s owners, by email and by phone, but did not hear back for comment.
The pipes are linked to a system of tile drains that collect runoff from the Vorsteveld Farm’s fields. The nonprofits said they decided to test water coming out of the pipes after paddlers on Dead Creek raised concerns.
The organizations said a consultant they hired found levels of the herbicide atrazine in water running into Dead Creek that were more than 54 times the EPA’s standards for drinking water.
Additionally, they found levels of another herbicide, metolachlor, that exceeded Vermont’s groundwater limit. There is no federal surface water limit for either chemical. They also found two neonicotinoid pesticides in concentrations the EPA says threaten macroinvertebrate health.
The nonprofits say federal law prohibits farmers from releasing any pesticide into nearby waterways without a permit. They argue the Vorsteveld Farm should be required to obtain a discharge permit under the federal Clean Water Act, which often requires a business to reduce how much it discharges over time. In Vermont, those permits are overseen by the Agency of Natural Resources.
Natural Resources Secretary Julie Moore said the agency receives hundreds of complaints about environmental concerns every year.
“There are management expectations for tile drainage right now, but those are really administered from the Agency of Agriculture, and the Required Agricultural Practices,” Moore said.
She said the agency is in the midst of standing up a new program to shift more of the regulation of water quality on farms to ANR, after the EPA required the state to do so last year over concerns about how the current division of labor affects water quality in the state.
Moore said Department of Environmental Conservation staff are reviewing the nonprofits’ allegations and weighing next steps. She said the EPA will likely have a large role to play in what happens next because the complaint focuses on federal law.
The Vorsteveld Farm has been the subject of complaints and even litigation over water quality concerns in the past, largely pertaining to how the farm manages nutrient runoff.
The farm’s bid to expand its operations earlier this year drew skepticism from some neighbors and raised concern from other Addison County farmers about the right to farm in Vermont. The state ultimately allowed the farm to expand in July.
CLF said that if federal and state regulators do not take action within 60 days, the nonprofits will likely sue the Vorsteveld Farm.
The Champlain Valley Farmer Coalition, a group of farmers dedicated to improving water quality, declined to comment for now, pending more information.
