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December 25, 2015 CapitalPress.com 11 Washington ,QVOHHFLWHVZLOG¿UHVDVVWDWHFRVWVVZHOO Most of the money would be administered by the State Con- servation Commission. :LOG¿UHV GDPDJHG LUULJD- tion systems and hundreds of miles of fences, and damaged crops and forage. By DON JENKINS The governor requested Capital Press WRZDUG D PLO- OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay lion campaign to spray for Inslee’s budget proposal to Asian gypsy moths. The state the 2016 Legislature includes hopes the U.S. Department of more than $200 million re- Agriculture will contribute the lated to Washington’s re- rest, though state budget and cord-smashing 1 million-acre Washington State Department Don Jenkins/Capital Press ZLOG¿UHVHDVRQ RI $JULFXOWXUH RI¿FLDOV VD\ The spending plan, pre- Washington Gov. Jay Inslee listens to a question Dec. 17 at a WKH\KDYHQR¿UPIHGHUDOFRP- sented by the governor at a press conference where he rolled out his budget proposal for the mitment. press conference Thursday, 2016 Legislature. The proposal includes more than $200 million WSDA trapped 10 Asian also includes money to spray UHODWHGWR¿JKWLQJRUSUHYHQWLQJZLOG¿UHV gypsy moths last summer. The gypsy moths, control apple moths pose a risk to the Christ- mer, Inslee proposes to dip ¿UHSUHYHQWLRQ SURJUDPV7KH mas tree, nursery and forest in- maggots and test raw milk. :LOG¿UHVEXUQHG LQWRUHVHUYHIXQGVIRU SURSRVDO LV OHVV WKDQ WKH GXVWULHV$VFLHQWL¿FSDQHOKDV acres this year, according to million. million proposed by Commis- recommended the state spray the state Department of Nat- He also proposes to in- sioner of Public Lands Peter more than 9,000 acres in West- ural Resources. The total far crease the Department of *ROGPDUNWREHHIXS¿UH¿JKW- ern Washington. surpassed the record-setting Natural Resources budget by ing capabilities. WSDA has not drawn DFUHV WKDW EXUQHG LQ PLOOLRQ WR SUHSDUH IRU The budget proposal also XS D ¿QDO SODQ 7KH GHSDUW- WKH ZLOG¿UH VHDVRQ7KH includes $9.2 million to help ment also likely will propose 7R FRYHU ¿UH VXSSUHVVLRQ money would pay for equip- landowners and livestock op- spraying in the Seattle neigh- costs left over from last sum- ment, training, supervisors and HUDWRUVUHSDLUZLOG¿UHGDPDJH borhood Capitol Hill, where Budget proposal targets gypsy moths, apple maggots '2(1RWDOOPDQXUH ODJRRQVZLOOQHHGSHUPLW concerned that DOE has been paying too LACEY, Wash. — The much attention Washington Department of to the dairy (FRORJ\ GH¿QLWHO\ ZLOO GURS industry and its assumption that all manure giving environ- Susewind mental concerns lagoons pollute groundwater, but still has suspicions about short shrift. most lagoons, an agency of- Environmental groups are ¿FLDO .HOO\ 6XVHZLQG VDLG lobbying for DOE to require Wednesday. dairies to double-line lagoons The position may mean with synthetic materials and that while some of the state’s install wells to monitor ground- GDLULHVZRXOGEHH[FOXGHG water quality. DOE has not from additional pollution-con- shown an interest in adopting trol rules, many would have to those proposals. comply. “We continue to be con- “We can envision a situation cerned. We’d like to see the where (groundwater pollution) CAFO permit go a bit further,” doesn’t occur,” said Susewind, Wishart said. the agency’s special assistant on water-quality policies. “We’ve also said we think that’s going to be a rare situation.” DOE alarmed the dairy industry several months ago when it asserted all lagoons, even those built to Natural Re- sources Conservation Service standards, seep nitrates into aquifers. The proposal meant all dair- ies with lagoons would need a FRQ¿QHG DQLPDO IHHGLQJ RS- eration permit, a set of pollu- tion-control rules now required of 10 livestock operations. The 10 either have polluted surface water or have the permit to re- duce the risk. The Washington State Dairy Federation called the assump- tion “stunning” and challenged DOE to provide the poof. DOE says its still compiling the evidence, but it concedes that in some cases nitrates may take “centuries” to reach groundwater, Susewind said. By dropping the blan- ket indictment against all la- goons, DOE has taken on the more-complicated task of de- veloping handbook-style crite- ria for judging which lagoons are polluting and which aren’t. DOE will not test ground- water at each dairy to judge whether a particular lagoon pol- lutes, Susewind said. Instead, the agency likely will look at factors such as the lagoon’s de- sign, location of groundwater, soil types below the lagoon and climate. Susewind said testing the water at every dairy will be dif- ¿FXOWDQGH[SHQVLYH 7KH GDLU\ IHGHUDWLRQ¶V H[- ecutive director, Dan Wood, said Thursday that DOE should compile on-sight evidence of pollution before requiring a dairy to obtain a CAFO permit. “I’m glad they realize that not everyone will need a per- mit, but it’s still fundamentally wrong to assume guilt without evidence,” he said. ³:H WKLQN VLWHVSHFL¿F HY- idence is not only prudent, but absolutely necessary to make a sound determination whether there’s pollution,” Wood said. “If there’s actual pollution, that needs to be addressed. No one questions that.” Puget Soundkeeper Alli- ance lobbyist Bruce Wishart said Wednesday that he was By DON JENKINS Capital Press WSDA trapped 22 European gypsy moths. Inslee asked for $122,000 to keep apple maggots from harming the state’s tree fruit industry. WSDA proposes to use the money to regulate composting facilities in Eastern Washing- ton that take yard waste from Western Washington, where apple maggots are estab- lished. The governor included WR H[SDQG:6'$¶V raw milk testing program. WSDA requested 7KH GHSDUWPHQW tests raw milk for illness-caus- ing pathogens that would be killed by pasteurization. %XGJHW RI¿FLDOV FLWHG WKH ZLOG¿UHV DV RQH UHDVRQ VWDWH government costs are rising IDVWHU WKDQ WD[ UHYHQXHV7KH two-year budget that Inslee VLJQHG MXVW VL[ PRQWKV DJR KDVDPLOOLRQKROHHYHQ WKRXJKWD[FROOHFWLRQVDUHVXU- SDVVLQJ H[SHFWDWLRQV DFFRUG- LQJWREXGJHWRI¿FLDOV Besides spending reserve IXQGV ,QVOHH SURSRVHG ¿OOLQJ WKH KROH E\ HQGLQJ IRXU WD[ H[HPSWLRQVQRQHRIWKHPUH- lated to food production. Inslee said his proposal “makes modest adjustments” to the state budget. Republican leaders criti- cized Inslee, saying he failed to balance the budget with- RXW UHVRUWLQJ WR HQGLQJ WD[ H[HPSWLRQV UHODWHG WR ERWWOHG ZDWHU RLO UH¿QHULHV IRUHFOR- VXUHVDQGVDOHVWD[HVSDLGE\ out-of-state residents. Closing WKHH[HPSWLRQVZRXOGUDLVHDQ HVWLPDWHGPLOOLRQ ³$W ¿UVW JODQFH ZH¶UH pleased to see emergency PRQH\ DOORFDWHG IRU ¿UH VXS- pression efforts across the state,” Rep. Bruce Chandler, R-Granger, said in a written statement. “However, in his proposal for additional poli- F\ FKDQJHV ZH ¿QG LW GLVDS- pointing that Gov. Inslee has GHFLGHG WR WURW RXW IRXU WD[ increases we’ve all seen be- fore.” 6WDWH¿QHV6LPSORWIRUZLQGEORZQPDQXUH Company disputes agency’s findings viewing DOE’s allegations and hasn’t decided wheth- er to appeal the fine to the state’s Pollution Con- '2( RI¿FLDOV VDLG WKDW By DON JENKINS trol Hearings Board, Dey said. WKH\H[SHFWWRUHOHDVHDIRUPDO Capital Press 7KH DFUH IHHGORW proposal by early spring. The Simplot Feeders has miles southeast of Pasco, proposal will revise the state’s CAFO permit, a state-federal EHHQ ILQHG E\ WKH KDGKHDGRIFDWWOHRQ partnership to keep livestock Washington Department of it last summer, according to operations from violating state Ecology for letting dried DOE records. The feedlot has a and federal laws. DOE has manure blow off the compa- taken the position that the per- ny’s feedlot in southeastern DOE-approved plan to con- mit should be used to protect Washington, the agency an- trol dust. and DOE alleges the company failed to fol- groundwater. In the past, the nounced Dec. 16. A spokesman for the Ida- low the plan. permit has regulated surface ho-based J.R. Simplot Co., Blowing particles of dust water pollution. The dairy federation argues Ken Dey, said the feedlot and manure from the com- that DOE’s tentative proposal disputes DOE’s interpreta- pany’s beef cattle operation would be hard to implement, tion of observations record- in Walla Walla County vio- lated air-quality rules, DOE ¿QDQFLDOO\ FULSSOLQJ DQG GX- ed by a feedlot employee. “Our contention is that said. plicate manure-handling rules According to a penalty already enforced by the Wash- (DOE) is misrepresenting notice DOE sent Simplot ington State Department of the logs,” he said. The company is re- RQ 'HF WKH DJHQF\ UH- Agriculture. ceived complaints in early April about dust from the feedlot. DOE officials reported seeing dust blowing from the feedlot in April and June. DOE officials said they reviewed written observa- tions made by a Simplot night watchman who report- ed seeing dust blowing on HYHQLQJV EHWZHHQ $SULO DQG-XQH'2(DOOHJHV Simplot failed to follow up on the observations and control the dust. The feedlot was fined LQ IRU UHOHDV- ing particle air pollution while grinding hay. Simplot did not appeal that fine. Dey said the company has recently invested $1 million to reduce emissions. John Deere Dealers See one of these dealers for a demonstration 52-1/#4N