The Treml family faced a crisis when they had to rush their six-month old daughter to the hospital after her evening bath. Their baby had sucked on a washrag and nearly died from E. coli poisoning. This was how the family learned their well water was contaminated with cow manure from a neighbor spreading liquid manure on frozen ground.
Midwest Environmental Advocates provided legal services and engaged engineers to collect critical evidence linking the pollution to the manure spread. The nonprofit worked with the family to change state law—which changed the practice of spreading animal waste on frozen ground. The good news is that the Treml’s youngest daughter is back to health. But monitoring water safety and addressing uncontrolled manure runoff is ongoing work.
