North Dakota

Report says proposed dairy operation will impact groundwater near Abercrombie

Published

1 year ago

December 7, 2024

Press Room

Report says proposed dairy operation will impact groundwater near Abercrombie

ABERCROMBIE, N.D. — A private study says the

proposed dairy cattle operation near Abercrombie

poses serious risks to the area’s ground and surface water.

David Erickson, a principal hydrologist with Water and Environmental Technologies, a consulting firm with offices in Montana and Wyoming, recently finished a study of the proposal and its potential impacts on groundwater near a proposed 12,500-head dairy operation by Riverview Farms, a Morris, Minnesota-based dairy corporation.

The Dakota Resource Council and residents of Abercrombie are asking the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality to consider the study report and include it as part of the permit application submitted by Riverview Farms.

Riverview Farms hopes to build a $90 million facility just south of Abercrombie in Richland County.

It is also proposing a $180 million, 25,000-head operation southeast of Hillsboro

in Traill County. The two proposals would quadruple the number of dairy cattle in North Dakota, which the North Dakota Department of Agriculture estimates at just 10,000 cows across 24 dairy operations.

The facility would be 1.4 miles from the Wild Rice River and 1.8 miles from the Red River, on top of the Wahpeton Buried Valley Aquifer, which supplies drinking water to 28 domestic wells within a two-mile radius, as well as the communities of Abercrombie, Wahpeton and Breckenridge, Minnesota.

“By granting this permit, North Dakota is permitting and encouraging the polluting of thousands of acres around the proposed Abercrombie Dairy,” Erickson said in the report.

Riverview officials could not be reached for comment on the report.

Erickson studied Riverview’s permit application and identified contaminants commonly found in dairy lagoons, such as nitrates, hormones, antibiotics and pesticides that also have been found in drinking water wells near other cattle facilities in Washington, Wisconsin and California.

“The current permit application for the Abercrombie Dairy fails to protect North Dakota’s surface water due to insufficient requirements for manure application locations, timing and methods,” said Erickson in the report. “This facility directly threatens the Red River, the Wild Rice River and Antelope Creek.”

Erickson said that a proposed 24-foot-deep, clay-lined lagoon that can hold 106.7 million gallons of manure each year is compliant with North Dakota livestock regulations, however, the regulations do not require monitoring wells to detect potential leakage. Erickson said he has studied lagoon seepage since 1988 and based on his experience and other research, he expects the two lagoons will leak much more than the less than half-inch of wastewater leakage projected by Riverview’s permit.

“Given that the water table sits just two feet below the lagoon bottom, the 22 inches of annual seepage will contaminate the water table in just over a year,” Erickson said in his report.

Erickson counted fields that would receive some of the manure as fertilizer and 42 of the fields have direct connections to tributaries, 10 border Antelope Creek, 15 border the Wild Rice River and three are adjacent to the Red River.

“Acute and immediate impacts to water quality will result from application of manure in the volume and locations described in the permit,” Erickson said.

He also noted that residents will likely have to contend with other side effects of applying the manure produced by the dairy operation to nearby fields.

“The odor from the application process is overwhelming and rancid for days after the application regardless of the application method,” Erickson said. “Nearby residents will have to contend with rancid odors, spills and releases on the roadways from hauling, additional manure truck traffic and routine misapplication by farm personnel.”

Riverview staff have said the facilities will create jobs, expecting to employ 45 people, many of whom would be internal hires. The company expects the farm would increase job opportunities for other vocations, such as truck drivers and manure applicators.

Residents, who have called themselves Abercrombie Citizens for Responsible Growth, along with the Dakota Resource Council,

have been meeting regularly since this fall

to discuss and voice concerns about what the operation would do the water supple and quality of live in and around the town of about 261 people. They have requested the state Department of Environmental Quality address the concerns and they have formally requested a public meeting to review the findings.

Abercrombie Citizens for Responsible Growth said the community plans to meet once again at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 10, at the community center.

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North Dakota

$2 million anonymous donor to Grand Forks Children’s Museum is revealed

Published

11 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

GRAND FORKS — The Grand Forks Children’s Museum has revealed the anonymous donor of the $2 million in matching funds that prompted others to step forward and bring the fundraising campaign closer to its goal of $35 million.

“It is with deep gratitude that the Grand Forks Children’s Museum now shares the name behind that bold vision,” said Katie Mayer, executive director of the museum, in naming Pam Laffen of Grand Forks as the anonymous donor.

With this gift and other major contributions, the fundraising campaign “stands at just $1.75 million remaining, bringing the finish line clearly into view,” Mayer said.

The museum “reflects Pam’s passion for learning and her belief in creating meaningful opportunities for children which have guided her life’s work and are deeply reflected in this gift,” she said.

Laffen said, “I am honored to be part of a community that supports a project dedicated to encouraging growth in education and service for future generations.”

Recognizing the impact of Laffen’s gift, Mayer said, “Pam and her late husband, Lonnie, shared a deep appreciation for this community. Being raised in a rural area in North Dakota taught them to be actively engaged in their immediate and surrounding communities across the state.”

Members of the Grand Forks Children’s Museum Staff and Fundraising Team are (back row, from left) Alyssa Donacki, Diane Martinson, Ashley Stroble, Katie Mayer, Pam Laffen, Betsey Aasen and Kim Woods and (in front) Maura Tanabe (left) and Sally Miskavige.

Contributed / Grand Forks Children’s Museum

At the start of the “Unlocking Tomorrow, Together Challenge,” the $2 million would be released, or “unlocked,” with the receipt of each of eight $250,000 donations. The challenge actually resulted in “securing nearly 10 leadership-level commitments and accelerating the campaign even further,” Mayer said.

A leadership gift of $250,000 from the Pancratz Family Foundation, based with the Fargo-Moorhead Area Foundation, has helped to “unlock one of the final keys in the challenge,” according to an announcement from the museum. The gift has added “meaningful momentum at a pivotal time in the campaign.”

The foundation’s commitment to the museum “reflects a strong belief in expanding opportunity for children and families, and helped carry the challenge to completion.”

The final keys to the $2 million matching grant were “propelled by an extraordinary wave of generosity from families and businesses across our community,” Mayer said.

A vertical climber, to be named for Pam Laffen, is designed to physically and symbolically connect the land and sky levels of the museum, Mayer said. It will span two stories and include a slide. Designed to face 42nd Street, it will be visible from the road, serving as a signature feature of the building.

The climber will reflect the guiding phrase “In land, we root. Through sky, we rise. Together, we grow.”

“The words echo both the spirit of the community and the belief that learning, curiosity, exploration and opportunity are built step-by-step, grounded in place and lifted by possibility,” Mayer said.

Pamela Knudson is a features and arts/entertainment writer for the Grand Forks Herald.

She has worked for the Herald since 2011 and has covered a wide variety of topics, including the latest performances in the region and health topics.

Pamela can be reached at pknudson@gfherald.com or (701) 780-1107.

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North Dakota

Broncos won’t repeat as NCHC hockey champs, lose to N. Dakota: ‘We broke down’

Published

23 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Broncos won’t repeat as NCHC hockey champs, lose to N. Dakota: ‘We broke down’

Kalamazoo — There’ll be a new champion in the NCHC.

Will Zellers scored the game-winning goal in the third period as No. 3 North Dakota downed No. 4 Western Michigan, 5-3, Friday night at Lawson Arena. The Broncos never led and trailed all of the third period, though a late push nearly tied the game with the net empty.

“Overall in the game, I thought it was a pretty tightly contested effort. I thought they just scored too easy,” Western Michigan coach Pat Ferschweiler said. “You know, for us, we had a couple breakdowns, and they’re so talented, so good, they took advantage when we broke down.”

The teams finish the regular season Saturday night. Western Michigan came into Friday’s game tied with Denver in standings points and five points behind North Dakota, needing that many to get a share of the Penrose Cup it won last season en route to an NCAA championship, too.

As far as regular season results go, the Broncos will play for second seed in the NCHC Tournament, needing to outpace Denver, which plays Arizona State this weekend.

Western Michigan (23-9-1, 15-7-1 NCHC) goaltender Hampton Slukynsky made 16 saves on 20 shots in the loss while North Dakota’s Jan Spunar stopped 22 of 25 shots. It was a battle of two of the NCHC’s top netminders, and each made key stops in a tight-checking, physical game.

Zellers put North Dakota (25-7-1, 17-5-1) up 4-2 4:42 into the third period off an assist from Detroit Red Wings draft choice Dylan James.

“He kind of made a play out of nothing there,” said North Dakota coach Dane Jackson, who is in his first season as head coach after being on the coaching staff since 2006. “And that was a really nice kind of moment where you go OK, we got a little got a little leeway here, and we can just kind of play a little bit more free.”

North Dakota took a 3-2 lead into the third period with goals from defenseman Sam Laurila alongside forwards Ollie Josephson and Josh Zakreski. Defenseman Zach Bookman and forward Liam Valente scored for Western Michigan.

One too many times in the second frame, Western Michigan’s blue line let a North Dakota forward in all alone to face Slukynsky, who stopped a couple of rushes in the opening minutes of the period.

With four minutes until the intermission, the Broncos finally got burned. On a feed from linemate Anthony Menghini, Lakreski cut to the glove side of a sprawling Slukynsky and beat him with the backhand. The goal gave North Dakota the 3-2 lead, after a seeing-eye shot from Bookman along the right wall had tied it up two apiece 8:10 into the period.

“I actually thought the second period was our best period,” Ferschweiler said. “… We started to take over. We got the goal, tied 2-2, and are kind of just humming along. Four minutes left, we just hand them a goal. Blown coverage. That was inexcusable, honestly, with some of our better players on the ice.”

The opening period played out as a back and forth track meet through the neutral zone as each side settled in. Laurila put North Dakota up 1-0 with his first career goal. After Slukynsky denied him on a trio of tries earlier in the shift, he fired a shot to beat the Western Michigan netminder 4:40 into the game.

It took just a minute and 34 seconds after Laurila’s opener for Western Michigan’s top line to get it right back. A blue-collar shift from captain Owen Michaels fed linemate Will Whitelaw along the left boards, and he sprung Valente for a breakaway goal that evened up the score.

“I thought we gave it to them too easy a couple times tonight,” Whitelaw said. “And I think when you’re playing a team like that, obviously they’re gonna put it in your net. But I think it’ll be a big lesson for our group going forward.”

For the better part of the first period, the Lawson Lunatics peppered North Dakota defenseman Jake Livanavage with jeers, but he got his own licks in with 7:48 left in the first period as he fed Josephson right at the net for the 2-1 goal. That score held through the first period.

With 2:02 remaining and Slukynsky pulled, forward Zaccharya Wisdom pulled Western Michigan within one. He nearly had the equalizer with 40 seconds on the clock on a backdoor try, but he mistimed the shot. Mac Swanson scored an empty-netter with 20.7 seconds on the clock to clinch the win, and with it the Penrose Cup, presented to North Dakota in the locker room and then paraded around the ice.

“It’s the hardest regular season championship to win, in my opinion,” North Dakota forward Ben Strinden said. “So it’s awesome. Obviously, it’s not our end goal, but we’re going to enjoy it for sure.”

cearegood@detroitnews.com

@ConnorEaregood

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