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Dairy in Lynden Issued Complaint

Release Date: 5/27/1998
Contact Information: LeRoy Loiselle
[email protected]
(206) 553-6901

May 27, 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - 98-30



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
A Whatcom County dairy has become the seventh dairy in western Washington this year to be issued a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency complaint alleging it allowed manure or other wastes to enter neighboring surface waters.

The latest complaint was sent to Robert Smit, operator of a dairy farm in Lynden (at 9039 Guide-Meridian Road), and proposed a civil penalty of $11,000. The complaint stems from an EPA inspection last December 17 when, according to their report, the inspectors observed runoff of manure-contaminated wastewater flowing into the Guide-Meridian Road ditch. The ditch is connected to Bertrand Creek.

The runoff at the Smit dairy is considered an illegal discharge under the federal Clean Water Act, the statute that prohibits the runoff of wastes from dairies and other concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) into nearby streams, rivers, lakes and other bodies of water. Runoff from dairies typically contains bacteria, large amounts of nutrients and other organic material that can degrade water quality and harm wildlife.

Smit has 30 days from the date the complaint is received to challenge the penalty or to contest EPA's allegations.

The complaint was accompanied by a compliance order that requires Smit to stop all discharges of wastes from storage ponds, silage piles or any animal confinement area, plus all
discharges resulting from land application of animal wastes. Smit is required to check daily for any discharge; if one is observed, samples must be taken and analyzed by a laboratory
for fecal coliforms. Also, EPA must be notified and steps taken by the dairy to prevent such discharges from recurring.

The Smit dairy is one of 40 dairies that have been inspected (some more than once) since last December when EPA began inspecting western Washington dairy farms for compliance with the Clean Water Act. Here's a summary of what's happened so far:

Dairies sent complaints and compliance orders (7)

• PIERCE COUNTY: Pete and Dale DeVries, Orting
• KING COUNTY: Green Acres Dairy, Duvall
• SNOHOMISH COUNTY: Walter de Jong, Monroe
• SKAGIT COUNTY: Heather View Dairy, Sedro-Woolley
  • Dan's Dairy, Burlington
  • Hansen Farms, Bow
• WHATCOM COUNTY: Robert Smit, Lynden

Dairies sent a compliance order only (l)

• WHATCOM COUNTY: Edaleen Dairy, Lynden

As for the other dairies inspected, 20 have been sent warning letters from EPA because of what inspectors observed during their visits. The warning letters officially told the dairy operators that the inspectors had found shortcomings in the way manure and other wastes were being managed at their farms. If inspectors saw conditions with a high potential for an actual discharge of manure or other wastes, the letters directed the dairies to make the necessary improvements.

Inspection reports from 12 other dairies are still under review by EPA. More complaints and compliance orders are expected to be issued over the next few weeks.