Saturday, July 19, 1997 · Page A1 ©1997 San Francisco Chronicle ------------------------------------------------------------------------
PAGE ONE -- Regulators Go After Polluting Dairies
Central Valley water endangered by cows
Elliot Diringer, Chronicle Staff Writer
After years of lax enforcement, federal and state authorities are suddenly declaring a crackdown on water-polluting dairies in the Central Valley, including possible criminal indictments. The new enforcement drive got a strong push yesterday from Washington, where Representative George Miller demanded a full accounting by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Miller, citing a recent report in The Chronicle on widespread dairy pollution in the valley, asked EPA's regional chief in San Francisco to investigate whether state water regulators are doing their job. ``I have no doubt most Californians were as shocked as I to read . . . that most of the valley's 1,600 dairies have never been inspected and that probably fewer than half follow the law,'' wrote the Martinez congressman, the ranking Democrat on the House resources committee. If the state is ``unable or unwilling'' to enforce the Clean Water Act, Miller said by letter, ``appropriate federal action must be taken.'' State regulators told The Chronicle they do not have the resources to adequately police the politically powerful industry, and that chronic runoff from dairies harms fish and poses a long-term threat to the valley's underground drinking supplies. EPA officials said yesterday they were out inspecting dairies just days after the story appeared earlier this month and will soon draw up an enforcement strategy. ``There appear to be some facilities that are really trying to do the right thing, and there are some that are not,'' said Dan Meer, a regional compliance chief. ``I think we need to pat the good guys on the back and get after the bad guys.'' In Fresno, meanwhile, a federal prosecutor said he is already working with state and local officials to build criminal cases against scofflaw dairies. ``It's clear from the information I have that there are criminal violations that have been going on,'' said Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Johns. ``We're going to go after the egregious violators,'' Johns said. ``Our goal would be to have some indictments within two to three months.'' The state, which for the past year has had only one waste inspector policing the valley's 1,600 dairies, also is talking more aggressively. California regulators are working with federal prosecutors, and Peter Rooney, acting chief of the California Environmental Protection Agency, met recently with dairy representatives to urge better compliance. ``He said, `Hey, this is a problem that will be enforced and you need to comply,' '' said Cal-EPA spokesman Daven Oswalt. Gary Conover, of Western United Dairymen, the state's biggest dairy lobby, said his group is working with the dairies and with regulators to encourage voluntary compliance. He insisted, though, that violators are in the minority. ``We know there are illegal discharges of dairy wastes when they can't control their overflows,'' Conover said. ``We agree those dairymen need to follow the regulations, and we will not stand between enforcement agencies and those individuals.'' California is the nation's leading dairy state, and the Central Valley's herds generate as much natural waste as a city of 21 million. The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, the state agency with lead regulatory responsibility, acknowledges that waste violations are widespread. Regulators say there is little in the budget for policing dairies because the industry -- California's biggest agribusiness -- was long ago exempted from annual waste fees by the Legislature. As before, state officials said yesterday that Governor Pete Wilson's proposed budget would create three or four new enforcement positions in the Central Valley that could be devoted to dairies. Gary Carlton, executive officer of the Central Valley water board, said that in the meantime he will try to divert three or four people from other programs ``to get a higher level of inspections and enforcement.'' Although there are state laws regulating dairy waste, it also falls under the federal Clean Water Act. And while enforcement of the act is typically delegated to the states, EPA has the power to step in if a state is not doing the job. Federal authorities, who began poking around the Central Valley a few months ago, say they would prefer to work cooperatively with the state. ``We view our role as the prosecutor of last recourse,'' said Johns. ``It's only in the instance where nobody picks up the case where we will step in.'' © The Chronicle Publishing Company