Noble Family Dairy pleaded guilty in federal court Monday in Medford to discharging cow manure into Caris Creek and the Applegate River in 2019. The dairy will pay a $25,000 fine.

Larry R. Noble, 55, an operator of the half-century old dairy located off Highway 238 near Provolt, appeared alongside his attorney at the James A. Redden United States Courthouse in Medford to plead guilty to a single misdemeanor count of direct discharge in violation of a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. 

Even though the dairy had already paid the state a civil fine of $25,465 and successfully completed a 24-month period of probation, the discharge violated federal law — something EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division picked up on after receiving complaints about the situation in 2019.

Noble Family Dairy and the Noble family are “one of the leaders in organic milk production,” providing all of the organic milk for Umpqua Dairy, as well as supplying others, the dairy’s attorneys wrote in a memorandum.

The U.S. government in its own memo said the dairy dug a trench that violated permit rules, and then failed to check on the trench’s condition after a heavy rainfall in 2019 that led to the manure’s release.

At the time, the dairy had 1,760 livestock on its property — 130 more than allowed through a plan it approved with the state, according to the U.S. government’s sentencing memo. The extra animals resulted in the dairy’s lagoons filling quicker and not leaving enough room during the rainy season.

In conversations with government regulators, Noble and other family employees of the dairy attributed the discharge from the trench to “an accident by a new employee,” who admitted to making mistakes in operating a valve on the farm. Noble and other family members admitted to not checking the employee’s work.

Regulators who visited the dairy saw the trench had been repaired, but it had accumulated “six to 18 inches of solid manure in places,” according to the government’s memo. The officials also observed “islands of solid manure” in Caris Creek.

Investigators collected samples from the contaminated waters and found they violated EPA standards.

Noble Family Dairy defense attorney Kristen Tranetzki wrote in her memo that after a surprise inspection from the state that resulted in no violations, dairy personnel dug a trench to prevent any water from overflowing a berm so it could be handled in compliance with its permit. 

“The Dairy now recognizes the faults with this plan. But there can be no question that it was well-intentioned and designed to minimize the possibility of runoff,” Tranetzki wrote, adding that “no one could have predicted” the flooding would occur soon.

As soon as the disaster concluded, Noble Family Dairy repaired the berm, Tranetzki wrote.

Noble Dairy has also applied — and been conditionally approved — for a new permit that will allow it to increase its herd size and expand its operations, Tranetzki added.

In court Monday, EPA attorney Gwendolyn Russell and U.S. Attorney Judith Harper recommended a $25,000 fine with no probation, noting the fine could have been as high as $500,000.

Noble answered “no” when asked in court by Magistrate Judge Mark D. Clarke if he had anything to say about the case. In court, Tranetzki said the dairy had spent more than $155,000 on reforms to “make sure this never happens again.”

Noble and Tranetzki declined comment after Monday’s hearing.