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Pollution From S. Oregon Dairy Triggers $33,000 EPA Complaint
Release Date: 3/8/1999
Contact Information: Bub Loiselle
[email protected]
(206) 553-6901
March 8, 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 99-9
Fecal Coliforms Found in Illegal Discharge
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
A Klamath County dairy in southern Oregon has been issued a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency complaint seeking $33,000 in civil penalties because agency inspectors discovered manure-laden wastes entering nearby drainage ditches that connect to the Lost River, a river that runs across the state line from California and back again into the Tule Lake Wildlife Refuge.
Named in the complaint is the Bonanza View Dairy (on Harpold Road) in Bonanza, about 25 miles east of Klamath Falls, where the EPA inspectors last November observed wastes flowing from the dairy into ditches that straddle Harpold Road and flow to the Lost River. Samples taken by the inspectors were analyzed and found to contain fecal coliform bacteria.
The complaint against the Bonanza dairy was announced today by Bub Loiselle, manager of the water compliance unit at EPA’s Northwest regional headquarters in Seattle.
"The Lost River is heavily distressed by loadings of nutrients from all sorts of agricultural activities, and a big part of that is the contribution from dairies or other livestock operations," Loiselle said. "When it comes to animal wastes, the impacts on water quality can be severe.
"The waste generated by a 500-head dairy herd is equivalent to the waste from a town of 10,000 people."
Loiselle said that the inspections of Oregon dairies are part of ongoing efforts by EPA and the Oregon Department of Agriculture to ensure that dairies and other concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are in compliance with the federal Clean Water Act. That statute requires all CAFOs to prevent discharges of wastes that can pollute nearby surface waters. Dairy waste typically contains large amounts of nutrients and other organic material that can degrade water quality and harm wildlife. The wastes can also contain E. coli bacteria and other microorganisms that can seriously affect human health.
Teams of inspectors from EPA and the Oregon Department of Agriculture this winter have visited dairies and other CAFOs in the Klamath Basin, in Douglas County and in the Portland area. Reports made by the inspectors are under evaluation by EPA.
Loiselle said inspections in other parts of Oregon will continue into the spring. Most of the inspections are conducted jointly by EPA and the state, although some inspections are performed independently by EPA. All EPA inspections are unannounced.
Bonanza View Dairy has 20 days from the date it receives the complaint to challenge the penalty or to contest the EPA allegations.
The complaint was accompanied by a compliance order that directs Bonanza View Dairy to cease all discharges immediately, to conduct daily monitoring to make sure no discharge takes place and -- if a discharge were to occur -- to make prompt reports to EPA about what happened.
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