June 27, 2025

North Country Dairy: SPDES Permit Update

Recently North Country Dairy has received a draft State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) permit from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

This draft permit is a result of the DEC-initiated modification process for our facility’s water discharge. We are currently in the process of thoroughly reviewing and analyzing the proposed permit, which contains substantially different terms and limits from our current permit. You can find the full public notice below.

As always, we are committed to transparency and will continue to provide updates as we move forward.

June 16, 2025

North Country Dairy: Summer 2025 Update

Dear North Lawrence neighbors,

We are committed to keeping you informed about our ongoing efforts to address environmental concerns and maintain transparent communication with our community. As we move into the summer months, here’s a look at the immediate actions we’ve taken and our ongoing long-term commitments:

Immediate & Short-Term Actions Underway:

• Odor Control & Water Quality Enhancement: We have begun using Byo-Gon PX-109®, a 100% organic product approved by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), at our facility. This will help (and has already) with odor control, boost beneficial biological activity in our wastewater treatment system, increase dissolved oxygen (DO), and reduce biochemical oxygen demand (BOD).
• Waste Diversion: We are operating a waste silo at our facility. This allows us to capture product waste more effectively, limiting the amount of waste that needs to go through our wastewater treatment system (WWTS). This further reduces the load on the system.
• Sludge Removal Project Preparation: Our team is actively preparing to begin the sludge removal project, a key recommendation from our WWTS Analysis Report. This project is designed to improve the capacity of a treatment lagoon, enhancing its efficiency.

Ongoing Long-Term Actions:

• WWTS Improvements: As we’ve shared over the last several months, we are actively preparing and analyzing various long-term improvements for our WWTS, which will be detailed in the forthcoming engineering report, and aims to propose sustainable solutions for our facility’s future.

In tandem with these short- and long-term actions, North Country Dairy continues to engage with the DEC regarding potential changes to its water discharge permit at our North Country Dairy facility. With the submission of a robust Engineering Report this week, we are nearly complete with our obligations under the December Consent Order with DEC and have come a long way since last summer. 

As always, we are committed to transparency and will continue to share updates on this website as new information becomes available.

Thank you for your continued support and understanding.

Sincerely,
Kevin J. Ellis
Chief Executive Officer, Upstate Niagara Cooperative