Be Prepared for Emergencies
Disaster can strike even the best-managed farm. Advance planning and training is
essential to minimize manure-handling emergencies, such as a discharge or spill. The
plan outlined below should also be used as a framework for planning for other
emergencies such as fire, medical or weather.
PREVENTION
Prevention, of course, is the best strategy. Prevention involves two steps: planning
(training) and inspection (awareness).
Management practices and spill prevention practices for on-site animal waste
lagoons.
1) Monitor lagoon to assure proper maintenance is performed.
a) Pump down stake is properly secured
b) Berms have adequate vegetation to prevent erosion
c) No damage exists from burrowing animals
d) No surface runoff water is entering lagoon
e) Area adjacent to lagoon is well graded so ponding of water does not occur
f) There is not any evidence of wet spots around lagoon indicating leakage
g) All lagoon pumps are secured properly
h) Gravity lines and recycle lines do not show signs of dead vegetation indicating
discharge
i) Area around lagoon is well maintained and has a desirable appearance
2) Monitor proper storage levels
a) Lagoon should be pumped to design pump down elevation yearly
b) When lagoon is within 12 inches of emergency spillway, start planning to pump
immediately
i) If weather conditions are not favorable for irrigating or injecting, use a small
pump to apply an application that will consume your daily usage, but will not
run off
ii) If you have an emergency holding basin, this could also be used to help
maintain your storage level until weather conditions will allow irrigating or
injecting to take place
3) Monitor all pumping operations
a) All pumps that are pumping animal waste should be equipped with an automatic
shutdown if pressure drops in the piping system
i) This would shut down any pump incase of failure in the piping system,
whether it is an underground recharge line, underground irrigation line, or
above ground irrigation line.
b) Never leave a pump unattended when irrigating with waste water
i) Travel gun could stick in one position or turn over on a slope resulting in
waste runoff
c) Application rates should be monitored closely so run off does not occur
i) High winds will result in odor problems and run off
ii) High humidity will intensify odor
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iii) High temperatures evaporates ammonia
4) Monitor land application of animal waste
a) Verify adequate acreage is available for waste water each year
b) Sample waste from lagoon every 2 years for nutrient values
c) Test soils that are receiving animal waste every 3 years
i) Application rates should not exceed what the ground crop can utilize. Excess
application rates will result in excessive nutrients accumulating in the soils
and increase ground water nitrates
d) Soil tillage before and after application of waste will reduce manure odor,
decrease the chance for runoff and help to conserve nutrients
e) Document application rates
f) Document crop yield records
g) Test will water of pond water for bacteria and nitrates
5) Prevention planning for fresh water usage
a) Monitor usage of fresh water will result in fewer days of storage in your lagoon
i) Broken water lines in buildings
ii) Valves left running
iii) Flushing pits with fresh water
6) Establish on site retainage areas below lagoon and land application areas
a) Stock pile fill material to block drainage areas
b) Construct retainage ponds
c) Construct dry holes structures
d) Construct holding basin
7) Monitor odors from farm
a) Cleanliness of buildings
b) Additives in pits and lagoon
c) Vegetation mowed
d) Well graded area for good drainage around buildings and lagoons
e) Proper disposal of dead animals
f) Well ventilated dry buildings
g) Contact neighbors prior to pumping waste
8) Establish an emergency prevention checklist for your farm
a) Determine what items of prevention pertain to your farm, and establish a
checklist that you can walk through on a monthly basis
b) Keep a copy of each months inspection and make sure any corrective action is
completed as required
9) Establish an emergency response plan for your farm
a) Designate a contact person or persons to notify if an emergency occurs
i) This list of contact people and telephone numbers should be posted at the
entrance of each unit
b) The contact person will determine the amount of personnel and equipment
necessary to correct the problem
c) Contact person will use emergency response team and emergency response
equipment list to mobilize enough manpower and equipment to correct the
problem
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Planning for containment below the lagoon in direction of runoff. (Study the drainage
patterns from your farm and envision where a manure discharge will move while it's still
on your property and after it leaves your property. Determine the point at which the
discharge might enter surface waterways. For some farms, manure may travel long
distances before entering a ditch or stream. In other cases, the stream may be nearby,
demanding a much faster response).
COST OF NO PLANNING OR PREVENTION
Situation: A two-acre lagoon at near-maximum capacity during a major storm. If one
area of the bank begins to erode, it's conceivable that the liquid may spill over the bank,
causing further erosion. If only one foot of liquid escapes before the bank is repaired,
more than 650,000 gallons of manure will be discharged.
EMERGENCY PLAN
You should develop an emergency plan for your waste handling system. This plan will
be implemented in the event that wastes from your operation are leaking, overflowing, or
running off the site. You should NOT wait until the wastes reach surface waters or leave
your property to acknowledge that you have a problem. (You should of course make
every effort to ensure that this does not happen in the first place). The plan should be
available to all employees at the facility, since accidents, leaks, and breaks could
happen at any time. The accident plan should also be used as you conduct new worker
training. Development of this plan will also decrease pollution risk through identification
and elimination of possibilities, allow for coordinated and quick mitigation, and improve
credibility with public, press, and authorities.
PREPAREDNESS
A well-coordinated, timely response will show the professionalism and concern of the
facilities personnel, and will help avoid many of the negative impacts of the emergency.
Minimizing adverse impacts of an emergency is important because the stakes are high.
Poor responses to emergencies can lead to personal injuries, economic losses, negative
public reaction, and increased scrutiny by regulatory officials.
TYPES OF EMERGENCIES
Your response to emergency situations will be governed by site- and situation-specific
circumstances, which your own plan should address. However, there are responses you
should consider based on the type of emergency you are experiencing. These
responses can be broken down according to three stages of emergency defined as
imminent pollution, pollution in progress, and pollution discovered after the fact.
These instructions should be available to all employees at the facility, as accidents,
leaks, and breaks can happen at any time.
Imminent Pollution
In this type of situation, there have not yet been any leaks or spills. However, ignoring
the fact that an emergency exists will probably result in a spill or leak within a short time.
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The main sources of this type of emergency are when lagoons, holding ponds, or pits
are nearing capacity, or when there is potential for wastes to run off an application field.
Storage capacity about to be exceeded. Long periods of excessive rain or
malfunctioning livestock water systems may cause your storage to unexpectedly reach
capacity. Your response should be to prevent the release of wastes. Depending on
your situation, this may or may not be possible, but suggested responses to this type of
problem include:
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Add soil to the berm to increase the elevation of the dam.
Planned emergency utilization of manure by pumping onto fields at
acceptable rates.
 Stop all additional flow to the storage (waterers).
 Call a pumping contractor.
 Make sure no surface water is entering the storage.
 Consider maintaining some grassland near the storage for emergency
manure application.
These activities should be started when your lagoon level has exceeded the
temporary storage level as defined in the lagoon sizing section of the Certified
Livestock Managers’ Manual Livestock and Poultry Environmental Stewardship
Curriculum (Lesson 21).
Potential runoff from application field. This situation could result from
unexpected rains during field application of manure. Again, the response is to
prevent the release of wastes to neighboring areas. Possible solutions include:
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Immediately stop additional waste application.
Create a temporary diversion or berm to contain the waste on the field.
Incorporate waste to prevent further runoff.
Pollution in Progress
In this type of situation, the storage or waste handling system is actively leaking.
Your main goals here are to stop the flow and minimize the impact of the leak on the
environment.
Leaking or broken pipe, pit wall, or lagoon berm. These leaks may be seepage
or flowing wastes. Response will depend on the level of the impact from the leaking
waste (is it on your property or off?). Possible solutions include:
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Stop flow into pipe, pit, or lagoon.
Prevent additional leaking of material by turning off recycle flushing system
and irrigation pumps; closing valves controlling outflows; and preventing
siphon effect.
Dig a holding area or construct a berm to contain waste waters.
Repair defective component such as berm leaks caused by animals; trap or
remove animals and fill holes with compacted clay soil.
Lagoon problems may require the consultation of an individual experienced in the
design and installation of lagoons for permanent repair measures.
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Tankwagon leak or overturn. There is a good chance that this emergency will be
off your property and may include personal injuries (e.g., automobile accident). If there
are injuries in any livestock waste emergency, they take precedence over all other
responses. Once injury response is taken care of, limiting the environmental impact
becomes the main goal in responding to this type of emergency. Possible solutions
include:
 Stop additional spill of material.
 Contain material that has spilled.
 Begin clean-up procedures.
 Contact appropriate agencies if waste is off your property or there is surface
or ground water impacted including Illinois EPA; Illinois Department of
Agriculture; local authorities as necessary; and CES, NRCS, and SWCD for
advice and technical assistance.
Pollution Discovered After the Fact
This situation occurs when up to several days have passed before a leak is
discovered. There is a potential for increased environmental impact due to the late
discovery of waste leakage. Response should be swift in order to minimize damage as
much as possible. Responses should include:
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Stop additional leakage.
Contain spilled wastes.
Attempt application of spilled wastes on cropland.
Notify agencies and local authorities.
Assess environmental impact of fish kill, surface water pollution, well or
ground water impact, and amount of waste released and for what duration.
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