As extreme weather events become more commonplace, agricultural and livestock operations are increasingly facing civil and criminal enforcement and regulatory crackdowns for water runoff contamination caused by events beyond their control. Across the country, ag operations and feedlots have been the focus of a growing number of enforcement actions, including those filed by state attorneys general, often with large civil monetary penalties.

Attorney Chris Carrington, of Denver-based Richards Carrington, works with farm and ranch owners in legal and regulatory proceedings. “In many cases, small ag operations can be compliant with regulations before a historic flooding event and still face financial penalties that push family-owned businesses to the brink of bankruptcy or worse,” he said. “More and more, governmental entities are under community and political pressure to take action, and that’s often at the expense of due process and fairness. It’s important for these businesses to know and appreciate the law and the forces at play before a catastrophic event occurs.”

Carrington has been invited to address these topics in a series of fall 2018 presentations to the Colorado livestock and agriculture industries. More information on these symposiums can be found here