Latest News: Factory Farms Threaten Public Health

Dairy Cattle in a Washington Factory Farm

According to a recent report produced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), bacteria, hormones and antibiotics are contaminating shallow wells near dairy factory farms and feedlots in the Lower Yakima Valley in Washington State. According to the report, a cluster of dairies are leaking between 3,330,000 and 39,600,000 gallons of liquid feces and urine into the the underlying soil. The report can be viewed here:

http://www.epa.gov/region10/pdf/sites/yakimagw/nitrate_in_water_wells_study_9-27-2012.pdf

In a statement released by the Washington-based Community Association for Restoration of the Environment (CARE), President Helen Reddout stated, “the two year study confirms what CARE has known since 2003 – that they mega dairies are putting their employees and neighbors at serious risk. The two studies done on low income residents nearly a decade ago documented the problem. The agencies sworn to protect public health must act immediately to stem this public health threat.”

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