(BIVN) – Just a few days after the Hawaii State Department of Health has issued a Notice of Violation and Order to Big Island Dairy, LLC for alleged water pollution violations, the O’okala community met Tuesday to discuss the latest developments.

Hawaii County Councilwoman Valerie Poindexter led the discussion, which included information from State Department of Agriculture chair Scott Enright, representatives from the health department, and – for the first time – an appearance by the dairy owners, Steven and Derek Whitesides.

Last week, after months of complaints from the community, state officials announced that the health officials ordered Big Island Dairy, LLC to immediately cease discharging wastewater to state waters, pay a penalty of $25,000 to the state, and take corrective actions to prevent future unlawful discharges from the dairy to state waters.