Lost Valley farm outside of Boardman, OR could soon reopen under new management.  According to Capital Press, Pasco, WA-based Easterday Farms, the new owners of the controversial Oregon dairy, are looking to house over 28,000 animals on the property.  If given approval by state officials, that would make the Boardman operation, once again, the second largest dairy in Oregon.

 

Lost Valley Farm originally opened in April 2017 to supply milk to the nearby Tillamook Cheese factory.  State regulators allowed the dairy to open before construction was complete, before its animal waste management plan was finished, and before it had secured permanent water rights, citing the economic benefits it would bring.  However, as soon as Lost Valley Farm opened, it started to draw criticism from environmental groups and a variety of state agencies.  The dairy racked up more than 200 citations and nearly $200,000 in fines over the following year.

 

In early 2018, Oregon unsuccessfully sued to shut down the dairyLost Valley Farm closed in February 2019 as part of a bankruptcy proceeding, leaving behind more than 30 million gallons of manure in leaking pits.

 

Easterday Farms purchased the dairy last spring, agreeing to a complicated environmental cleanup plan with Oregon regulators and the bankruptcy trustee.  On July 1st, owner Cody Easterday submitted an application with the Oregon Department of Agriculture for an individual Confined Animal Feeding Operation permit, which would allow the dairy to reopen.  The permit would regulate how the dairy could handle and dispose of the estimated 173.3 million gallons of solid and liquid manure produced by the cows each year.  ODA was unable to immediately provide an animal waste management plan and other documents referred to in the application. The proposed permit would be open for public comment and a hearing.

 

A coalition of 13 state and national health and environmental groups issued a statement Tuesday asking Governor Kate Brown not to move forward with the new permit.

 

“The Lost Valley site is still polluted with millions of gallons of waste and has cost hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of taxpayer dollars to bring into compliance with the law,” the statement reads.  Allowing a new megadairy in an area with existing groundwater pollution, water scarcity, and air quality issues will only exacerbate these public health, economic and environmental harms,” the groups contend.

 

 

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekradio.com

 

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