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About Appeal tribune. (Silverton, Or.) 1999-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 13, 2017)
2B Wednesday, December 13, 2017 Appeal Tribune Willamette Valley dairy’s luck sours Environmental violations led to surrender of permit, fines, $95K civil penalty To comment The Oregon Department of Agriculture is seeking public comments on a proposal to allow Dayton dairy owner Brian Turley to take over the permit for Volbeda Farms, which previously supplied Willamette Valley Cheese Company with milk. The number of animals permitted would rise from 1,200 to 1,600. The permit also will allow the creamery to legally discharge wastewater and whey into the dairy’s manure handling system. TRACY LOEW SALEM STATESMAN JOURNAL USA TODAY NETWORK Over the past 15 years, Willamette Valley Cheese Company, just outside Sa- lem, has grown from a basement cheese- making experiment to a regional tourist destination selling its award-winning cheeses throughout the Northwest. In the creamery’s tasting room, at farmers markets and on its website, owner Rod Volbeda claims the key to the company’s success is its on-site herd of carefully cared for Jersey cows and its sustainable farming practices. “We milk our own cows and make it into creamy, delicious cheese the same day,” the company’s website reads. But from its beginning, the cream- ery’s dairy, called Volbeda Farms, has vi- olated environmental laws that regulate the safe handling, storage and disposal of manure. By July 2016, the Oregon De- partment of Agriculture had cited the dairy nine times, for 19 violations, and fined it thousands of dollars. Sometime before February 2015 — Volbeda says he can’t remember the ex- act date — the cheese company stopped using milk from its own cows, instead purchasing it from Darigold, a regional dairy cooperative. But it didn’t tell its customers. And it still labels its products “farmstead cheese,” even though American Cheese Society rules allow the name's use only for cheese made with milk from the farmer’s own herd, on the farm where the animals are raised. In July 2016, under pressure from state regulators, Volbeda transferred control of the dairy to his father, John Volbeda, whose Albany dairy had recent- ly pled guilty to three criminal counts of unlawful water pollution. Rod Volbeda maintained control of the cheese factory. Conditions at the dairy rapidly wors- ened, culminating in a weeklong manure overflow in March that contaminated nearby Spring Valley Creek, a tributary of the Willamette River. That prompted the Oregon Depart- ment of Justice to file a lawsuit and tem- porarily shut down dairy operations. “ODA has made exhaustive efforts to bring defendants into compliance volun- tarily and through administrative en- forcement,” the Justice Department wrote to a judge in March. In October, the Justice Department ordered John Volbeda to surrender the Mail comments to William Matthews, ODA/CAFO Program, 635 Capitol St. NE, Salem, OR 97301; or email to wmatthews@oda.state.or.us. Comments must be received by 5 p.m. on Dec. 8. ODA will schedule a public hearing if written request are received from at least 10 people or from an organization representing at least 10 people. Volbeda Dairy and Willamette Valley Cheese Company sits empty, as seen on Nov. 29. TRACY LOEW/STATESMAN JOURNAL dairy’s permit, remove the cows, clean up the property and pay a $95,480 civil penalty. Today the barns sit empty. The prop- erty housing the dairy and cheese fac- tory has been sold to a Dayton farmer who plans to open a new dairy there. Rod Volbeda continues to operate Wil- lamette Valley Cheese. He declined to be interviewed for this article. In an email responding to the inter- view request, Volbeda insisted all of the environmental violations happened af- ter he relinquished control of the dairy and did not involve Willamette Valley Cheese. He said he is only buying milk from Darigold, “until my cows are ready,” but declined to elaborate. His father, John Volbeda, did not re- spond to interview requests for this sto- ry. Here and now, our award-winning journalists deliver unbiased stories that impact our home. From city council and school board decisions to the debates on Capitol Hill and how the outcomes there affect us here. Volbeda now distances himself from his dairying family. But in interviews over the years he has described the in- terwoven business relationships among its members, including his parents, his brother, Darren Volbeda, and his sister, Coleen Van Dreal. According to Oregon Secretary of State corporation records, John Volbe- da’s company, Volbeda Dairy, was the registrant for Rod’s Volbeda Farms. Another company, headed by John Volbeda, owned the recently sold proper- ty housing Willamette Valley Cheese and Volbeda Farms. And a company headed by Van Dreal, Farmstead Family Foods, was listed as an owner of the cheese com- pany in 2012. Volbeda Dairy took out a lien on all of Willamette Valley Cheese Company’s equipment in May 2016, according to Oregon Secretary of State Uniform Commercial Code filings. Darren Volbeda managed his father's Albany dairy, and also has worked at Wil- lamette Valley Cheese. Willamette Valley Cheese is sold at a half dozen farmers markets and in more than 40 stores throughout the Pacific Northwest. Between 2010 and 2017 it won 11 awards from the American Cheese So- ciety alone. But in 1998, the dairy began racking up repeated violations with the Oregon Department of Agriculture, which regu- lates how facilities handle and dispose of manure through confined animal feed- ing operation (CAFO) permits. In 1999 Rod Volbeda wrote to ODA to complain about the scrutiny: “I have had two inspections in about one year, while CAFOS farther from Sa- lem have had no inspections. The dairy- men of Oregon need to know if this is go- ing to be a reoccurring situation, this could make the difference in dairying in the Willamette Valley or going east.” ODA officials responded that all dair- ies should expect increased inspections. In 2010, around the time the cheese company opened its on-site tasting room, ODA cited the dairy for two violations: keeping manure piles on bare ground and failing to keep records to show it was complying with its permit requirements. In 2011 ODA cited the dairy for bro- ken gutters, run-off from the compost- ing barn and pooled water in front of the barn. It ordered Volbeda to install a col- lection and pump system for the com- post barn. In 2012 ODA found the dairy’s lagoon was full, its dry manure storage area was leaking, the pipe from the sep- The awards we’ve earned recognize hard work and genuine storytelling with integrity throughout the USA TODAY NETWORK. And we do it for you. Girls Family's businesses were linked Rod Volbeda, 52, grew up on the 400- acre Albany dairy farm his parents, John and Lucyann, bought in 1972. He worked as an apprentice cheese- maker in Holland, where his father was from, completed the food-sciences pro- gram at Oregon State University, and worked at Oregon’s Tillamook Cheese Factory before opening Volbeda Farms, at 8105 Wallace Road NW near Salem, in the late 1990s. He launched Willamette Valley Cheese Company in 2002. We do this for you. There is a dedication at work at the Statesman Journal. To uncover the truth. To tell the real story. To give you the facts, clearly and completely. And what we do has never been more important. arator was not reaching the lagoon and its annual report was incomplete. Serious problems began in December 2015, when ODA inspectors found the dairy had failed to notify the state that its waste management system had failed and was discharging manure into Spring Valley Creek. An inspector arriving for a scheduled inspection found manure flowing down the entry driveway ditch. It cited the dairy for six violations. In January 2016, ODA modified the dairy’s permit, requiring it to take pic- tures of its manure collection, transfer, treatment and storage facilities each day and email them to the state each week. Failure to comply would result in a fine, officials warned. In May 2016, ODA fined the dairy $5,700. John Volbeda was also having prob- lems at his Albany dairy. In 1997 Volbeda Dairy paid $8,000 to settle a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency complaint alleging the dairy was discharging manure into Albany’s Truax Creek. Multiple additional charges in 2009 and 2010 led to criminal prosecution. In 2011 Volbeda Dairy pleaded guilty to three counts of unlawful water pollution. It received a $30,000 criminal fine and three years’ probation. Darren Volbeda was listed as the dairy's operator. Volbeda Dairy voluntarily relin- quished the permit for its Albany dairy in May 2014 in lieu of having the permit revoked, Matthews said. State agency cracks down Dairies generally dispose of liquid manure by applying it to farm fields as fertilizer. Their permits regulate when and how much manure can be applied to ensure it is properly absorbed and doesn’t run off into public waterways. That became a problem for the Salem dairy after about 80 acres of its property was repossessed in connection with a re- possession of the Albany dairy property, according to the Department of Justice lawsuit. The bankruptcy happened after John Volbeda surrendered the Albany dairy's license in 2014, ODA officials said. The loss of nearly half of the Salem dairy’s land meant there was too much waste, said Wym Matthews, who over- sees confined-animal permits for ODA. Willamette Valley Cheese also was discharging its creamery processing waste into the dairy’s manure storage la- goons, increasing the volume of waste. In December 2015, ODA inspectors became aware of the situation, Mat- See DAIRY, Page 3B Continued from Page 1B 50 states. 112 local news teams. ONE NETWORK. Anna Chau Cantu School: South Salem. Year: Junior. District result: Second in the Greater Valley Conference (18:23). State result: 12th in Class 6A (18:47). ference champion (18:04). State re- sult: 16th in Class 6A (18:51). Murnieks Kaylee Mitchell School: Sprague. Year: Senior. District result: Third in the Greater Valley Conference (18:35). State result: Fourth in Class 6A (18:04). Ginger Murnieks School: Sprague Year: Junior. District result: Greater Valley Con- Mitchell Jimenez COACH Tom Jimenez School: Sprague. Year: 18th. 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