The division found that 1.2 million gallons of sludge and other food byproducts overflowed a lagoon into a farm pond and then to a creek over a six-week period.

Farmers accept the byproducts as what's called a soil amendment, which can be used in place of traditional fertilizer. But critics call it industrial waste because it’s made up of byproducts from poultry and other food processing plants, waste such as chicken blood or water used to rinse equipment.