How Maher Cattle Company Turned a Waterway into a Toilet

TL;DR

In a frustratingly common example of industrial negligence, Maher Cattle Company, LLC, alongside owners Patrick and James Maher, operated a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) on the Standing Rock Reservation without the necessary National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit.

Frequent readers of this website will know that CAFO normally stands for something different than ” Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation”, which is a kinda funny coincidence imo. Anyway…

The EPA found that the facility, which has a capacity for 12,000 cattle, was discharging pollutants (specifically manure, process wastewater, and feed waste) directly into High Bank Creek, a tributary of the Missouri River.

Inspections revealed that cattle had direct access to the creek, and water sampling confirmed the presence of elevated levels of ammonia, nitrogen, phosphorus, and E. coli bacteria downstream from the operation!

While the technical details of the consent order paint a picture of regulatory non-compliance, the broader implications for public health, corporate ethics, and environmental justice on indigenous land demand a closer reading of the systemic failures detailed below.

The Machinery of Corporate Greed on Indigenous Land

It is a story as old as the American empire itself: the unchecked expansion of private enterprise at the expense of the commons, specifically targeting lands that have already borne the brunt of historical injustice.

In the case of Maher Cattle Company, LLC, we see the familiar face of neoliberal capitalism, where the pursuit of profit overrides the sanctity of the water supply and the well-being of the community.

Located on the Standing Rock Reservation, this facility is an industrial machine, classified as a “Large CAFO” with the capacity to confine 12,000 head of cattle. The operational model appears to have been one of convenient neglect.

The EPA’s findings paint a grim picture of a corporate entity that failed to secure the most basic federal permits required to dump waste into the nation’s waterways, effectively bypassing the regulatory framework designed to protect public health.

Environmental Negligence

The specific allegations against Maher Cattle Company reveal a disregard for corporate ethics and environmental stewardship. The facility’s design and operation allowed for the direct contamination of High Bank Creek, a water body that eventually feeds into the Missouri River.

Timeline of Corporate Misconduct

The following timeline illustrates the sequence of events and the persistence of the pollution, highlighting the duration of the corporate pollution before regulatory intervention took hold.

The Toxic Legacy of Corporate Pollution

The environmental data is damning.

The EPA’s sampling confirmed that the water downstream of the yearling operation was tainted with elevated levels of E. coli and nitrogen. Rather than being a victimless crime, this here is a direct assault on the ecosystem and the safety of the water used by the community.

The pollutants identified (“solid waste, biological materials, and… agricultural waste”) are the byproducts of an industrial system that packs thousands of animals into confined spaces. The facility was found to have cattle standing in pens where High Bank Creek flows directly through the confinement area, turning a natural resource into an open sewer.

This blatant disregard for the environment exemplifies the wealth disparity inherent in our system: the corporation reaps the revenue of 5,900 cattle, while the public inherits the E. coli.

Corporate Accountability and the Illusion of Self-Regulation

Under the guise of corporate social responsibility, industries often claim they can police themselves. The Maher case shatters this illusion.

The pollution loving company didn’t even maintain records of where they were spreading manure until late 2022. Without the intervention of the EPA, the “economic fallout” of this pollution would continue to be externalized onto the environment and the local population.

The Clean Water Act exists to prevent exactly this kind of abuse, yet the facility operated without the required NPDES permit.

The Consent Agreement now forces the company to cease these discharges, build containment structures for runoff, and remove the yearling pen that sits directly in the creek.

However, one must ask: why does it take a federal crackdown to ensure a corporation doesn’t dump manure into a creek?

The answer lies in the nature of corporate greed: compliance is a cost, and pollution is a subsidy paid for by nature.