10 CapitalPress.com
January 15, 2016
Washington fines farm for irrigating too many acres
Inspectors see healthy blueberry plants
Capital Press
A northwestern Wash-
ington blueberry farm has
been fined $16,000 for il-
legally irrigating 200 acres
during the 2015 growing
season, according to the
Washington Department of
Ecology.
DOE repeatedly warned
U.S. Golden Eagle Farms
in Skagit County about ir-
rigating land not covered
by its water right, agency
spokesman Larry Altose
said. “At some point, we
had to take action.”
Efforts to reach Golden
Eagle’s representative were
unsuccessful.
Golden Eagle, a Cana-
da-based company, owns
about 700 acres on Cock-
reham Island along the
Skagit River between Ly-
man and Hamilton, accord-
ing to DOE.
The farm has rights
to irrigate 250 of those
acres with 470 acre-feet of
groundwater and river wa-
ter.
According to DOE, the
agency sent Golden Eagle
a letter in 2011 warning
it to irrigate only the 250
acres and followed up with
a cease-and-desist order in
2012.
DOE continued talking
with Golden Eagle, and the
farm applied late last May
to revise its water right to
allow the same amount of
water spread over a larger
area.
Courtesy of Washington Dept. of Ecology
This photo taken by the Washington Department of Ecology on June 9 shows blueberry plants that
were illegally irrigated in Skagit County, according to the agency. DOE has fined U.S. Golden Eagle
Farms $16,000.
The application came
too late to be approved by
the 2015 growing season,
Altose said.
Alder and Maple
Saw Logs, Standing Timber
www.cascadehardwood.com
ROP-1-5-2/#24
BUYING 6” and UP
DOE inspectors drove
past the farm four times in
June and July and saw that
blueberry plants on fields
not covered by the water
right had been irrigated.
The inspectors reported
that the 1- to 2-year-old
blueberry plants looked
healthy despite the heat.
Meridian, Idaho FFA Holds 7th Annual
Alumni Scholarship Auction
Meridian,
ion at the
e live auct
th
g
i
n
n
ri
m
u
lu
d
bid
ual A
Attendees
venth Ann
chapter’s se to by Laura Wilder
Idaho, FFA
o
Ph
Auction.
Scholarship
MERIDIAN, Idaho — On Nov. 9 from 6 to 9
p.m., the Meridian, Idaho FFA chapter held the
seventh annual Alumni Scholarship Auction in
the Meridian Professional Technical Center
shop.
This event serves as our main fundraiser for
senior FFA member scholarships and to lower
the cost of state and national trips for the
members of the chapter. Our event had both live
and silent auctions, with a tri-tip dinner donated
by Agri Beef Co. and prepared by Cross Country
Catering & Events. The auction was open to the
community.
About 212 items were donated for both the live
and silent auction. Approximately 340 people
attended to support us this year. Our chapter
made a profit of $26,433.58 on this night, an
18 percent increase from last year’s auction.
The money raised from this auction will provide
$6,500 in scholarships to our senior members,
$5,000 to students attending the Washington
Leadership Conference, $3,500 to students
From the left, Paul Spirk is awarded the Meridian FFA
Honorary Degree by Vice President Andrew Heikkila and
President Kristen Nesbitt. Paul donates many beautiful, hand-
crafted wood items to the auction every year.
Photo by Laura Wilder
competing at the National FFA Convention and
$4,200 to State Leadership Conference attendees
and State Career Development Event (CDEs)
competitors.
The profits from this event have increased 50
percent since the first auction seven years ago,
and we have many people to thank for that,
including those who supported the chapter by
attending this year, as well as the businesses and
families who donated items for the live and silent
auctions.
Agri Beef Co. has our gratitude for donating the
main course of the auction dinner, as do Jessie
Miller and Becky Miller-Tester of Cross Country
Catering for preparing the meal. Jessie and
Becky also generously donated half of their tips
and income from the Alumni back to our chapter.
Last, we owe a huge thank you to our Alumni
Chapter for helping us put on this fundraiser and
making it a great success.
3-2/#13
By DON JENKINS
DOE estimates the 200
acres would have taken 210
to 267 acre-feet of water to
sufficiently irrigate, Altose
said.
Without metering re-
cords, DOE can’t verify
how much water the farm
used, he said.
DOE opted to fine Gold-
en Eagle $4,000 for each of
the four times it inspected
the fields. The department
could have levied up to
$5,000 per violation.
Altose said DOE ex-
pects to make a decision on
Golden Eagle’s application
by the 2016 irrigation sea-
son.
“This is something we
believe should have been
taken care of a long time
ago,” Altose said.
Because of the drought,
the Skagit River dropped
low enough last summer
for DOE to cut off some
irrigators. Golden Eagle’s
violations were not related
to that action.
Golden Eagle can appeal
the penalty to the state’s
Pollution Control Hearings
Board.