Race track settles with feds for manure, urine discharges

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Federal prosecutors say the owners of the horse racing track in New Orleans have agreed to pay a $2.8 million penalty for letting horse manure and urine into the city’s drainage system. News outlets report that Churchill Downs Inc. also has agreed to spend $5.6 million on changes to keep untreated wastewater out of the system. The U.S. Justice Department says the fine is the largest ever paid by a “concentrated animal feeding” operation under the Clean Water Act. The Kentucky-based company says it has worked hard with regulators to find way to deal with wastewater and stormwater drainage.