Wynja Feedlot, Inc.
Outcome
Feedlot agreed to pay $20,000 civil penalty, apply for NPDES permit, and construct a lined containment basin, preventing an estimated 4.5 million gallons of wastewater annually from entering the Floyd River system.
Details
Wynja Feedlot, Inc. — Unpermitted CAFO Discharge into Floyd River System (2025)
Outcome: Wynja Feedlot agreed to pay a $20,000 civil penalty, apply for an NPDES permit, and construct a lined containment basin for process wastewater, preventing an estimated 4.5 million gallons of wastewater annually — carrying approximately 137,000 pounds of pollutants — from entering the Floyd River system.
Wynja Feedlot, Inc., a concentrated animal feeding operation in northwestern Iowa, operated its beef feedlot without a required National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit while discharging process wastewater to the Floyd River system. Concentrated animal feeding operations above regulatory thresholds are required under the Clean Water Act to obtain NPDES permits controlling the volume and composition of wastewater discharges; Wynja operated in violation of this requirement.
The settlement, reached November 17, 2025, required Wynja to pay the $20,000 civil penalty — reduced from the calculated penalty due to documented limited ability to pay — and to undertake two substantive compliance measures: first, submit an NPDES permit application for the facility's operations; second, design and construct a lined process wastewater containment basin capable of containing all process wastewater generated at the facility. The basin prevents wastewater from flowing into the Floyd River watershed, which ultimately drains to the Rock River and Mississippi River.
EPA estimated that full implementation of the required measures will prevent approximately 4.5 million gallons of contaminated process wastewater per year from reaching the Floyd River system, carrying an estimated 137,000 pounds of pollutants including nutrients, pathogens, and sediment. The Floyd River watershed has historically experienced water quality impairment from agricultural runoff, and CAFO discharges represent a regulated point source component of that loading.
Primary Source: Wynja Feedlot Settlement Information Sheet | US EPA
How Crucible Prevents This
Operating a concentrated animal feeding operation without an NPDES permit is a documented, ongoing violation that a compliance calendar tracking permit application requirements would catch at inception. Crucible's session-init MEMORY review would ensure that any legal question about whether a feedlot is above CAFO thresholds requiring a permit is documented as an explicit decision, not a passive omission. The $20,000 penalty is low due to limited ability to pay — earlier voluntary compliance would have been far cheaper than the required containment basin construction.
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