Environmental group files new lawsuit against Outlook dairy

"The dairies and the agencies responsible for regulating them have ethical and legal obligations to limit the massive pollution they are causing and harm they are doing to the citizens of the Yakima Valley," said Charlie Tebbutt, Western Environmental Law Center

An environmental group that sued DeRuyter Brothers Dairy in Outlook a decade ago filed a new lawsuit Wednesday accusing dairy operators of violating the Clean Air Act.

Helen Reddout, a Lower Valley cherry farmer and leader of the Community Association for Restoration of the Environment, or CARE, said although the dairy -- owned by Jake DeRuyter -- is no longer dumping raw sewage on the roads, it is still polluting the air with methane.

"The fields have become toxic waste dumps," said Reddout

DeRuyter's attorney did not return a phone message left Wednesday.

In 2000, DeRuyter settled a pollution lawsuit, agreeing to pay more than $500,000 -- none of which went to Reddout or her group.

The money was to be used for a ground water pollution assessment, engineering improvements and water quality and soil monitoring at the dairy, and for attorneys fees of about $55,000.

Under the settlement, DeRuyter agreed to build a new manure lagoon, train employees in waste management, keep records of its manure and construct a concrete berm in front of cattle pens to reduce the risk of contaminated runoff leaving the Van Belle Road farm.

The settlement also allowed for CARE representatives to inspect its facilities, and dairy operators agreed to pay penalties if it failed to meet certain standards. And DeRuyter agreed to cap its growth unless an independent engineer certifies that it has the capacity for more cows and waste.

DeRuyter officials did not admit any wrongdoing in the settlement.

Reddout said CARE hired engineers to inspect the facilities for about four years and then the court order allowing the inspections expired.

CARE attorney Charlie Tebbutt, who is with the Western Environmental Law Center in Portland, said that although the DeRuyters have complied with portions of the settlement, the dairy -- which has 6,300 cows -- is still violating the Clean Air Act.

Tebbutt said when the dairy expanded in 2002, it failed to obtain the permits required under the Clean Air Act.

He said the lawsuit was filed to wake up the dairy industry, and the local, state and federal officials charged with oversight of the industry.

"The dairies and the agencies responsible for regulating them have ethical and legal obligations to limit the massive pollution they are causing and harm they are doing to the citizens of the Yakima Valley," he said. "Until we have permits limiting pollution emissions, the dairies will continue to profit by putting the cost of their pollution into the people's lungs. It's time for that to stop."

The Western Environmental Law Center and CARE are members of the Dairy Education Alliance, a national coalition that includes farmers and grassroots activists who tackle the health, environmental, social and economic problems associated with large dairy operations.

Reddout said she doesn't oppose dairies.

"Dairying can be done correctly and I have neighbors who are doing it right -- putting animals out on pasture and letting them eat and live on the pasture and produce the produce in a natural way," she said.

She doesn't like the large factory dairies where cows aren't exposed to natural grass. And, as a cherry farmer, she takes exception to the lack of oversight within the industry.

"If I go out and spray a pesticide and it goes onto someone else's property, I'd be fined and taken to court -- the enforcement people would be right there," she said. "Yet industrial dairy operators can spray manure onto yards and public roadways and nobody wants to do anything. The laws are on the book. All we are asking is that they be enforced."

The lawsuit asks the court to force the dairy, which has 6,300 cows on less than 100 acres, to limit its methanol emissions, which presently exceed 20,000 pounds per year, according to court documents.

Methane isn't the only concern for Outlook residents.

A study done by scientists at the University of California-Davis showed that nitrate was frequently found in aquifers under dairies in California's Merced and Stanislaus counties, according to a news release issued this month by the university. However, the data didn't expose the source of the contamination and scientists, who are still studying the issue, haven't determined if the dairies are responsible.

Nitrate is a chemical found in most fertilizers, manure and liquid waste from septic tanks that can leach into the soil and contaminate drinking water in wells.

That happened at Outlook Elementary School, just a mile from the DeRuyter dairy, in December. The school was forced to drill a deeper well, which was tested for nitrates earlier this month by the Washington State Department of Health and determined to be safe.

Students and staff at the school drank bottled water from December through April, when the well was complete.

The lawsuit asks the court to order the DeRuyter Brothers Dairy to pay civil penalties of $32,500 per day for each of two violations to the Clean Air Act. To date, that penalty would top $12 million.