Food & Water Action Slams Regulators for Declaring Cleanup of Troubled Mega-Dairy Site Complete
01.2.20
For Immediate Release—January 2, 2020
Portland—On Monday, the Oregon Department of Agriculture declared the cleanup of the site of the defunct Lost Valley Farms mega-dairy successful. The “Notice of Satisfaction” is a first step in clearing the way for Easterday Farms to open a new mega-dairy on the site, which it purchased last year. The decision comes following protests by 21 groups, including members of the Stand Up to Factory Farms Coalition, which sent a letter to Gov. Brown and the directors of the Oregon Departments of Environmental Quality and Agriculture voicing their fervent opposition to allowing a new mega-dairy on the site. Lost Valley Farms received hundreds of violations for improper animal waste disposal and other issues. In response to the Department of Agriculture decision, Tarah Heinzen, senior attorney with Food & Water Action, issued this statement.
“History is threatening to repeat itself, now that Oregon officials appear poised to approve a permit for Easterday Farms on the very location where Lost Valley was cited with so many environmental violations. State officials have demonstrated their inability to properly regulate mega-dairies and keep Oregon safe from the environmental and health threats posed by these industrial-scale operations. The drinking water of the surrounding communities is already contaminated, their air quality is in jeopardy, and putting another nearly 30,000 cows on the site will lead to more pollution and more health risks. It is time to declare a moratorium on mega-dairies in Oregon until state regulators can better protect our environment and public health.”
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Contact: Julie Light, (510)-992-4083, [email protected]
Food & Water Action is the political advocacy arm of the research and education organization Food & Water Watch. We mobilize people to build political power to move bold and uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water and climate problems of our time.
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