Center for Biological Diversity

For Immediate Release, June 27, 2018

Contact:  Hannah Connor, (202) 681-1676, hconnor@biologicaldiversity.org
Julie Light, (510) 992-4083, jlight@fwwatch.org

Oregon Revokes Permit for Lost Valley Mega-dairy

PORTLAND, Ore.— Under intense pressure from family farm, environmental, animal welfare and public health organizations, Oregon agencies today took the first step toward shutting down the Lost Valley mega-dairy by revoking the water pollution discharge permit it needs to operate. Thousands of Oregonians submitted comments opposing the state’s approval of Lost Valley more than a year ago, before the full extent of its environmental and animal cruelty disasters were revealed.

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 released this statement about today’s decision by the Oregon Department of Agriculture and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality:

“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.”

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.6 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

www.biologicaldiversity.org

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