Public commenter raises concerns about large dairies upstream of Fargo and potential water impacts

FARGO — A public commenter told the Sustainability and Resiliency Committee that an industrial-scale dairy proposed near Abercrombie, North Dakota, could increase nutrients, pathogens and other contaminants that reach the Red River and affect downstream communities including Fargo.

Madeline Luke, a retired internist representing the Dakota Resource Council’s agricultural committee, told the committee she was speaking to raise a regional heads-up about feedlot and dairy development in the Red River basin. Luke said Riverview Dairy — a firm based in Morris, Minnesota — is developing a large-scale facility in Traill County that she estimated at 25,000 cows, and she described potential water-quality and public-health consequences if manure and wastewater are applied to fields without adequate safeguards.

Luke cited concerns that increased nitrogen and phosphorus could spur harmful algal blooms and that the dairy’s waste stream may carry antibiotics, hormones and bacteria such as E. coli. She said the current nutrient status of the Red River is already elevated in places and that additional loadings could raise treatment complexity and cost for downstream utilities. She urged city officials to monitor water-quality trends and to consider participating in appeals of state permits if public-interest concerns are not addressed.

Committee members thanked Luke for traveling to Fargo to present her concerns and noted the timing was appropriate given the water-utility briefing earlier in the meeting. No formal committee action was taken on the public comment.