DEXTER – Leon J.

Wednesday, November 01, 2000

DEXTER – Leon J. Holst expressed relief this week that a judge has dismissed two pollution charges against him.

Mayor Randy Stephenson expressed happiness: "I’m glad to see he didn’t get fined."

That’s significant, because Holst maintains, the city of Dexter may have been responsible for the fish kill.

On that subject, Stephenson said, "The city of Dexter is not at fault The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency cleared us immediately after we obtained their permission to discharge our sewage ponds."

And, Lowell Franzen, Mower County’s feedlot enforcement officer, simply said, "I don’t think it’s over yet."

The manure runoff into Dexter Creek has stopped, but the fallout continues from the controversial water pollution case.

Mower County Third Judicial District Judge William A. Johnson ordered Sept. 28 that two charges against Holst be dismissed.

According to the criminal complaint, Holst was charged after a fish kill was discovered Aug. 5, 1998, in Section 35 of Sargeant Township.

Two boys, fishing the creek, noticed the dead fish, told their parents and authorities were notified.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources enforcement officer, Dean Olson, and Bill Buckley, Mower County’s environmental health services director, were the first on the scene.

When they investigated the discovery, they went to Section 2 of Dexter Township and the investigators determined manure was running from a field into Dexter Creek at least at two entry points and they named Holst the perpetrator.

However, 14 months passed before charges ever were filed. When he was accused of contributing to water pollution, the specific charges were "failure-to-report-type" misdemeanors as well as a failure-to-obtain-a-feedlot-permit misdemeanor.

Holst strongly defended his innocence throughout the time, saying, an "act of God" or rain showers contributed to the manure running into the creek.

Because the city of Dexter obtained the MPCA’s permission to discharge sewage a month prior to the Aug. 5, 1998, discovery, another possible guilty party was mentioned.

Holst’s attorney, Thomas C. Baudler, argued his client’s case with a motion that contended the statutory "knowing" requirement did not exist in the charges filed against Holst. In addition, he argued there was no discharge over a pollutant "under his control" and that Holst otherwise satisfied all requirements of Minnesota statutes.

District Judge Johnson also heard testimony at an omnibus hearing and ruled in favor of the defendant and dismissed two of three charges.

Holst said he feels vindicated. He has farmed the feedlot in question for 13 years, had a manure management plan in place and could not control the "act of God" or showers that fell and moved the manure he had applied to his fields.

"I feel real good," he said. "Twenty-six months is a long time to go through something like this. It was quite a strain. There was so much bad and false press over this. It made me and all the livestock producers look bad."

Holst also faults the on-site investigation, saying it was not as thorough as it should have been and that the city of Dexter did not stop its sewage lagoon discharge until Aug. 6, 1998, or a day after his was discovered.

"I’ve not saying they caused it (the fish kill), but it’s a possibility to look at," Holst said.

Holst said despite the stress on his family, he wants to put the incident behind him. He also said, "I want to thank all the people for their support and my family and friends for their calls and cards."

Mower County Attorney Patrick A. Oman said he prosecuted the case with due diligence despite facing a large caseload of criminal matters.

Also, Oman said the case was unlike one involving a rural Elkton farmer who was found guilty of dumping pesticide chemicals into a machine shop drain and polluting the nearby groundwater. The farmer was fined $15,000, according to Oman, who said the state attorney general’s office came to Mower County to assist in prosecuting the case.

"Where were they this time?" Oman said.

Lawrence Landherr is the MPCA’s subdistrict manager for southeast Minnesota.

"It’s an unfortunate situation. Obviously, we’re disappointed with the results," Landherr said of the judge’s ruling, but it’s not going to stop us from doing the job we’re responsible for doing."

The MPCA urged the Mower County Board of Commissioners to intervene when the case dragged on and charges weren’t filed

As far as Oman’s assertion that the attorney general’s office could have been valuable to the prosecution, Landherr said he would visit with the attorney general’s staff to ensure their assistance is not missing in any future cases of this type.

As far as any civil action, Landherr was doubtful it would be pursued.

According to the Izaak Walton League of America, total agricultural pollution has killed a total of 901,277 fish in Minnesota in the four-year period from 1995 to 1998. Manure pollution is responsible for 883,577 fish kills in the state.

The Izaak Walton League contends the total number of fish kill incidents from 1995 through 1998 was 58 with eight fish kills caused specifically be manure pollution and 11 fish kills caused by all types of agricultural pollution.