CARRINGTON (AP) - State health officials say a Foster County feedlot has been given until the end of November to upgrade its manure-handling system. Neighbors complain about the smell and some fear the city's water system will be affected.

Baca Cattle LLC is operating under a temporary permit, state water quality director Dennis Fewless said. Owner Audie Baca has until Nov. 30 to comply with state rules, including the structure of waste lagoons and waste management systems, he said.

"He's deficient in some areas," Fewless said.

Baca said he has been working with the Health Department for the past three months.

Foster County State's Attorney Paul Murphy said he worries that the feedlot might contaminate the aquifer that supplies water to Carrington. He said he saw cattle standing in deep manure .

"There is no evidence that I am contaminating the Carrington drinking water," Baca said.

All of his wellheads are about three feet above ground level, he said. A wellhead is the very top of a well shaft, where a cap is often placed.

Baca Cattle, about five miles north of Carrington, fattens cattle on commission until they are big enough to send to slaughter. Baca's permit allows up to 1,880 cattle to be kept in 30 pens.

Dave Glatt, the state Health Department's environmental chief, said the department has been working with the feedlot and making weekly visits.

"There has been progress, but there's a ways to go," Glatt said.

State inspectors have seen no evidence that feedlot water is running over the top of wells and no evidence of the feedlot contaminating the aquifer, he said.

Baca said he is studying ways to improve his lagoons.

"We're right now looking at a synthetic liner, and I feel that a synthetic liner is safer than a clay liner. But if not, we're going to go in and improve our clay-based liner," he said.

Baca said he also plans to add a monitoring system that will tell whether the waste system is functioning properly, and he said he's working with the state's nutrient management plan and an area farmer to whom he hauls manure.

Tim Carr, a neighbor whose house is on the north edge of the feedlot, said he is bothered by the smell and is angry at "the county officials that let him open that feedlot right next to my house."

The smell is bad enough that people in town ask how he can stand to live there, Carr said.

"I've called the state (health) department, and as far as I'm concerned, they've drug their feet," he said.

Glatt said he would be happy to talk with Carr or others who have complaints. Baca is working with engineers to upgrade his lagoon and control runoff from the feedlot, he said.