Victory! Oregon Shuts Down Mega-Dairy

The State of Oregon revoked the water pollution permit for the Lost Valley Farm mega-dairy on June 27, 2018. 

lost valley conditions
Photo by Oregon Department of Agriculture.

 You did it! On June 27, 2018, the State of Oregon officially shut down a public health, environmental, and animal rights disaster: the Lost Valley Farm mega-dairy. This is huge.

With your support, Columbia Riverkeeper tackles emerging threats—like one of the nation’s largest industrial mega-dairies—and we win. Donate to Columbia Riverkeeper today and support victories like the defeat of Lost Valley. Riverkeeper pivots fast, taking on deep-pocketed corporate interests and standing up for clean water. 

Riverkeeper members make victories like the Lost Valley victory possible. You fight for clean water. You hold polluters accountable. And you engage in our democracy. 

Last year thousands of Riverkeeper members and our coalition partners called on Governor Brown and state agencies to protect the Columbia River and rural communities from factory farm pollution. They didn’t listen. In March 2017, Oregon gave the green light for one of the largest mega-dairies in the nation. Turns out you were right; Lost Valley could not control its mountains of manure. The state’s decision to revoke Lost Valley's pollution permit marks a turning point for industrial mega-dairies in Oregon, and a major victory for people who value clean water.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Groups Applaud Decision to Revoke Lost Valley Permit


June 27, 2018 (Portland, OR)—Under intense pressure from family farm, environmental, animal welfare and public health organizations, today Oregon agencies took the first step towards shutting down Lost Valley mega-dairy by revoking the water pollution discharge permit it needs to operate. More than 4,000 Oregonians submitted comments opposing the state’s approval of Lost Valley over a year ago, before the full extent of its environmental and animal cruelty disasters were revealed.

Statement by Food & Water Watch, Oregon Rural Action, Friends of Family Farmers, Friends of the Columbia Gorge, Columbia Riverkeeper, Center for Food Safety, Center for Biological Diversity, Animal Legal Defense Fund, and the Humane Society of the United States:

Lost Valley Farm has been a mess since the day it opened its doors. State inspections have documented cows standing ankle-deep in a slurry of their own waste, overflowing manure lagoons and 'mortality' boxes. Its violations have put drinking water for local families at risk. The state’s action today follows a renewed call from numerous organizations which sent a letter to Governor Brown last month asking that her administration shut down Lost Valley, along with emails from nearly 3,000 concerned citizens. We applaud the permit revocation as an important victory for animal welfare and against mega-dairy water and air pollution, which pose massive environmental and public health risks in Oregon and across the country.

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