INDUSTRIAL-SCALE DAIRIES THREATEN STATE'S WATERS
NEWS RELEASE from the Sierra Club, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 25, 2000, CONTACT: Anne Woiwode, 517-484-2372, Aaron Isherwood, 415-977-5680
Grand Rapids, MI - The Sierra Club announced today that it has sent letters to four Michigan dairies announcing its intent to file suit against the facilities for causing major water pollution problems. The four dairies are Bruinsma Farms, River Ridge Farms, Walnutdale Farms, and Bradford Dairy Farms. The letters state that each facility has repeatedly polluted Michigan's waterways and violated the Clean Water Act.
"These facilities are no friend to Michigan's families," said Ms. Martha Lore, Vice-Chair of the West Michigan Group of the Mackinac Chapter. "They overwhelm their neighbors with the stench of cow excrement and poison our streams. It is time for these dairies to stop treating Michigan's rivers like a sewer."
Large industrial-type dairies, known as concentrated animal feeding operations or CAFOs, create one of Michigan's most dangerous water pollution problems. The facilities' waste disposal practices - spraying manure onto croplands or storing it in open air waste pits - often result in leaks, spills and runoff that pollute ground and surface water and create a health risk to people and wildlife. Under the Clean Water Act, CAFOs are required to obtain permits if they discharge waste to the nation's waters.
Samples of a 1997 discharge from Walnutdale Farms contained pollutant levels many times higher than typical waste entering a sewage plant; and in 1986, River Ridge Farms (formerly Grand River Dairies) spilled one million gallons of manure into the Grand River, causing a major fish kill. Although the dairies have made some limited improvements in their waste management practices since these events occurred, the dairies continue to cause significant pollution problems.
"Despite repeated spills, none of these facilities has obtained the required permits, which are designed to protect our waterways from pollution," said Sierra Club attorney Aaron Isherwood. "So far, state officials have been unwilling to take any action to address this problem. That's why the Sierra Club is filing suit - the dairies are simply not cleaning up after themselves and state officials appear unwilling to do anything about it. Unfortunately, the only way to get them to stop polluting Michigan's waterways is to go to court."
"Michigan's waterways are not a dumping ground for dairy waste," Ms. Lore concluded. "It's time to protect Michigan's waters and stop animal factory pollution -- for our families and for our future.":
