Dairies' discharge at issue in court

by Leah Beth Ward
Yakima Herald-Republic

Posted by Beamer at 01/14/09 09:52AM        Post ID#: #1276

Unbelievable, of 161 CAFO's in the State, only 35 are required to apply for a permit! I'm guessing the other 126 are judged too small to be adding to the problem? I'll bet that's why,if you look at the Lower Valley, one dairyman, or family, has several separate dairies so they can go unregulated. This waste issue is nothing more than a mirror image of major pollution problems of the past such as with the asbestos industry and Love Canal. Expensive lawyers, blind or industry-sympathetic judges only prolong what needs to be corrected. I read, recently, that it takes 250 years to flush pollutants from an aquifer. Get with it, Judges.

Report Violation
Posted by countryvet at 01/14/09 03:44PM        Post ID#: #1284

The best justice money can buy. When the day comes that we finally find out the full extent of the unregulated dairy pollution in Yakima county, I hope that the polluters are joined in federal prison by their lackeys and flunkies in state and county governments. We NEED the federal government through the EPA to come in and clean up this mess. Do people have the right to clean drinking water in Yakima? I guess not. Not as long as dirty dairy money finds its way into local political campaigns.

Report Violation
Posted by warrior4u at 05/18/09 10:56PM        Post ID#: #3944

Yakima County is an unregulated environmental mess. These factory dairies have moved to Yakima County with the blessing of our ignorant, biased, government officials. Here's some excuses the dairy industry uses to try and fool the public:
1. We just want to be good neighbors.
2. It's the golf cources, not the cows.
3. We are now mortality composting- no more "Mad Cow".
4. We aren't making any money. Look at the mansions at the Ord Dairy in Sunnyside.
5. It's the ducks geese and beavers polluting the rivers. (That's a heck of a lot of bird and beaver poop.)
6. We are "High tech!" You want to see high tech? Check out the sewage pits, the dairies call lagoons; they are bubbling masses of toxic, rancid, raw, untreated sewer going into your aquifer.
When will they stop polluting? When the whole aquifer is destroyed? Why do you think thy want "Black Rock?"

Report Violation
Log in or Register to leave a comment.

Posting Guidelines - Updated Jan. 12, 2010
Readers are encouraged to use these forums to discuss issues affecting the Yakima Valley. Debate the ideas presented in stories and other comments, but refrain from personal attacks and offensive remarks aimed at others; e.g., you may call an idea idiotic, but don't say the person is an idiot. The Herald-Republic reserves the right to remove any comment for any reason. Examples include material that is obscene, encourages illegal activity or stereotypes based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs and other factors. Continued violation of these guidelines will lead to suspension or revocation of your ability to post comments. If you believe a comment is inappropriate, you can bring it to our attention by clicking the "report violation" link by each comment. Guidelines revised Jan. 12, 2010.