Over a decade ago, the US Environmental Protection Agency used bunk science to accuse four Lower Yakima Valley dairies of contaminating groundwater, and then bullied them into a legal agreement to spend millions on changes.
Now, the EPA is back on the offensive in court, claiming the farms still haven’t done enough.
In late June, the EPA sued the dairies, claiming they hadn’t satisfied the demands of the original agreement, pointing to a list of technicalities and alleged paperwork errors that the agency claims justify its over-the-top legal action.
Shortly after, in early July, the EPA then asked a judge to immediately force the dairies to test all nearby wells and supply drinking water to homes with groundwater nitrate levels above the federal standard.
Yakima County Commissioner LaDon Linde pushed back in a court declaration, pointing out that county officials and local groups were already testing water and providing alternatives for affected residents. Linde told the court that the EPA’s request to get involved would cause confusion among area residents.
Already half of the original dairies the EPA targeted haven’t survived the legal onslaught that began more than a decade ago.
Because the EPA is using heavy-handed legal tactics to force its involvement in an issue already being handled at the local level, Save Family Farming has issued a statement questioning the true motives behind EPA’s legal actions.
“Why would the EPA want to swoop in and try to do something that Yakima County government is already doing effectively?” asked Larry Stap, Save Family Farming President, in the Oct. 15 statement sent to media outlets.