PRESS STATEMENT – Oct. 15, 2024
Larry Stap, President of Save Family Farming, issued the following statement regarding the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) continued allegations against select Yakima-area dairies and Yakima County Commissioner LaDon Linde’s recent declaration addressing the issue:
“The EPA’s attempt to force three Lower Yakima Valley dairies to duplicate local officials’ work on groundwater outreach and testing is not only unnecessary, it also poses troubling questions.
“Why would the EPA want to swoop in and try to do something that Yakima County government is already doing effectively? The county has received state funding to conduct the necessary work and residents are already being served well by the local government program. Additionally, the dairies have collectively spent millions over the past decade on environmental improvements and innovations to protect groundwater, yet the EPA continues to target them with costly lawsuits over technicalities.
“Yakima County Commissioner LaDon Linde was right to call out the EPA in a recent court filing on the federal agency’s push for a preliminary injunction against the dairies. He correctly pointed out that the EPA’s effort will only create confusion for local residents.
”What is the EPA’s true motive in trying to force the courts to allow them to duplicate the work already being accomplished?”