Environmental Criminal Enforcement/Clean Water Act: Ohio Dairy Employee Sentenced for Alleged Violation
September 17, 2026
By:
Walter G. Wright
Category:
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
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The United States Attorney’s Office (Northern District of Ohio) issued a September 11th news release stating that Teunis Jan Willemsen was sentenced for an alleged violation of the Clean Water Act.
Mr. Willemsen is stated to have been employed at a northern Ohio dairy facility and admitted responsibility for environmental pollutants that were dumped into a waterway.
The news release states that the individual pleaded guilty to negligently discharging a pollutant in violation of the Clean Water Act. The discharge was alleged to have been dumped into the Little Black Creek, which is a tributary of Saint Mary’s River that flows to the Maumee River.
Court documents are stated to indicate that in 2022, Mr. Willemsen was serving as the manager of Heartland Dairy. Investigators found that a discharge was being pumped from a settling basin on the dairy’s property into a nearby ditch that drained into a waterway.
The discharge was analyzed and found to consist of manure and silage leachate. Concentrated amounts of ammonia are stated to have resulted in the death of approximately 789 fish and 1,371 other aquatic animals.
Mr. Willemsen was sentenced to:
- 15 months of probation.
- Ordered to pay a $25,000 fine.
- Serve 100 hours of community service.
A copy of the news release can be found here.
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