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Saturday, December 01, 2007

Environment - "Jacobus Tielen's lawyers are trying to resolve criminal and civil proceedings over manure management"

Seth Slabaugh reports in the Muncie Star-Press:

The Delaware County prosecutor's office and the Indiana attorney general's office have been negotiating the settlement of criminal and civil charges against a Delaware County pork producer since last year.

Deputy Prosecutor Eric Hoffman advised Delaware Circuit Court 4 Judge John Feick in July 2006 that an agreement was being negotiated with Jacobus Tielen, 39, rural Eaton, who faces three class D felony counts of violating environmental laws.

Feick this week conducted a status conference at which Tielen and his attorney, Scott Shockley, did not appear. The judge rescheduled the conference for Dec. 12 after Hoffman reported that an agreement to end the criminal case was being held up by the lack of a resolution of the civil matter.
Tielen is accused of knowingly or intentionally failing to maintain the required minimum freeboard of two feet in a lagoon holding 12 million gallons of hog manure. Freeboard is the distance between the manure level in the lagoon and the top of the lagoon.

On June 8, 2005, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management filed a lawsuit against Tielen to restrain him from further swine breeding and to address his "brimming manure lagoon." The breeding ban was later lifted.

Criminal charges were filed Oct. 12, 2005, dismissed on April 4, 2006, and re-filed the next day.

Tielen's Indianapolis law firm, Plews, Shadley Racher and Braun, presented a settlement proposal to IDEM on Dec. 15, 2006. This past April 10, IDEM -- represented by the attorney general -- responded with a proposed agreed order.

Tielen's attorneys are reviewing the proposed agreed order and will provide comments to IDEM soon, Valerie Tachtiris, a deputy attorney general, told Delaware Circuit Court 1 Judge Marianne Vorhees.

The parties continue to negotiate in good faith, according to Tachtiris.

Since 1999, Tielen has been fined more than $21,000 for spilling manure, failing to report a manure spill, killing a small number of fish and other violations. Authorities claim Tielen has continually shown contempt for laws, rules and orders governing manure management.

In 2002, one of Tielen's ex-employees told The Star Press he was fired for blowing the whistle to IDEM on a manure spill at Tielen's farm. Tielen, a Dutch immigrant, reportedly told the worker that American inspectors were dumb. Tielen called the worker's story ridiculous and said he was fired for lack of attendance and poor job performance.

The ILB has several related earlier entries.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 1, 2007 06:25 PM
Posted to Environment