Cheese plant fined for water pollution

OCONTO - The owner of an Oconto County cheese plant has been fined $40,000 for allowing wastewater to flow into a waterway.

State prosecutors say on Nov. 17 and 18, 2009, lift station pumps at the Saputo Cheese plant in Lena failed, causing untreated wastewater to overflow and bypass the facility’s wastewater treatment plant. The wastewater ended up in a tributary which flows into the Little River, which in turn flows into the Oconto River.

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Prosecutors say daily monitoring submitted by the company showed that five times since November 2009, Saputo polluted the water more than its permits allowed. The organic material that was released can harm fish and other life forms in the water, prosecutors say.

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The company has cooperated with the DNR, training employees and upgrading its facility to try to make sure the problem does not happen again.

Saputo Cheese is based in Lincolnshire, Ill.