The Chronicle, 5/22/99
KENNEWICK (AP) - A federal judge has ruled dairy waste lagoons and manure-spreading equipment are subject to the Clean Water Act.
The ruling this week by U.S. District Judge Ed Shea appears to give residents suing four Yakima Valley dairies a wider scope to try to link farm practices to Yakima river pollution.
The case comes to trial June 1.
Dairy lawyers argued against the broader definition for a "pollution source," but Shea said their definition would give dairy operators license to move manure "without regard" for polluting rivers.
"This would avoid the clear intent of Congress as expressed in the Clean Water Act and by the Environmental Protection Agency," Shea said.
Shea also reminded the parties that the extent to which the farms in question are sources of pollution has not been determined.
The people suing the dairies called the pretrial ruling the first of its kind in the nation.
"We are pleased with this court decision and look forward to the final phase," said Mary Lynn Bos, vice president of the Community Association for Restoration of the Environment.
The dairies sued are Sunny Veld, with at least 1,700 mature cows; DeRuyter Bros., with at least 3,425 cows; Henry Bosma, with at least 2,500 mature cows; and Liberty, with at least 3,000 mature cows.
Lori Terry, an environmental lawyer representing DeRuyter Bros., stressed the farms involved are family-owned and not factories. -
She said Shea's rulings don't change the nature of the case, in which dairy lawyers will argue their clients didn't pollute the Yakima River in the five years before the case was filed.
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