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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (March 19, 2015)
NEWS BY CAMILLA MORTENSEN MEATY CONTROVERSY DEQ and USDA put local meatpacking company on notice O n Thanksgiving Day 2014, a truck from California came to Bartels Packing west of Eugene carrying 35 organic cattle. Kandi Bartels, executive vice presi- dent of Bartels, which produces grass-fed natural and organic beef, says the paperwork from the driver stated there were two bulls and 33 cows in the shipment. According to a Nov. 28 USDA “notice of enforcement ac- tion,” a Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) consumer safety inspector “observed an overcrowded pen, with 35 head of cattle being held in a pen that usually holds 23 head.” The inspector “observed three cattle that were down in the overcrowded pen and were unable to get up, due to limited space in the pen. One animal was lying on top of another, and the third animal had its leg stuck under the pen fence and was unable to rise,” according to the notice. That cow was later euthanized, according to the report. The incident involving the injured cow is not the first time Bartels Farms has been put on notice or fined by a govern- ment agency since 2002. Bartels has also received enforce- ment letters from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality about its wastewater from the meatpacking facility. Kandi Bartels says the company has never willfully made mistakes or tried to cut corners to save money. “We really just do care,” she says. “We live here too; this is our community.” While the driver’s paperwork said there were two bulls in the shipment, Kandi Bartels says there were actually six bulls and 29 cows, and the extra bulls were not correctly identified as such. Bartels says the driver and the Bartels security guard unloaded the cattle and put the two identified bulls in a sepa- rate pen and temporarily put the rest of cattle in a pen for 35 cattle and an adjoining alley for 20. The gate was left open to assure the cattle could get water. But against company procedures, the gate was not chained open and the four “young aggressive bulls” left in with the heifers shoved the gate closed, cutting off access to water, and began to “ride” some of the heifers, causing them to go down, Bartels said in a statement. The statement continues, “We take this very seriously and took immediate action to remedy the situation.” Bartels says first observed the above-noted discharges, Bartels Packing the cow was down for about 20 minutes, and that a secu- has made significant improvements to its wastewater treat- rity guard inspects the cattle every two hours, 24 hours day, ment and disposal system.” seven days a week, even on the holiday weekend. Bartels shared with EW emails to DEQ and Department “We feel great remorse that any animal suffered because of Agriculture officials about the water issues. company protocol was not followed,” the statement says. Kandi Bartels wrote to the DEQ asking, “In the face of Bartels took corrective action, Kandi Bartels says, and the social media attack that has begun because we are per- has made sure all workers who receive, sort, pen and unload ceived as ‘dumping blood waste’ into animals are trained in proper proce- the Fern Ridge Reservoir from the dures and sign a “proof of knowledge publicity of the February breach and of training” form. Bartels says the fa- the 2011 breaches, are there water tests cility’s slaughterhouse procedures are on file that prove we contaminate Fern based on the work of Temple Grandin, Ridge Reservoir?” a professor of animal sciences known Paul Kennedy of the DEQ respond- for her efforts to make slaughter, or as — KANDI BARTELS, ed, “I have not taken any water sam- Bartels calls it “harvest,” less stressful. B A R T E L S FA R M S ples from Fern Ridge Reservoir.” According to Bartels the company He says the February 2014 incident hires workers with quiet demeanors occurred when water overflowed a able to “read” cattle to move them dike, and “to address the overflow, Bartels obtained a special through the chutes with minimal stress. Stress is measured letter permit from DEQ last year allowing them to improve by the animals’ vocalizations. The less noise they make, the their wastewater system by adding a second wastewater la- less stressed they are. According to FSIS Public Affairs Specialist Lauren Kot- goon. Bartels also prepared and submitted its annual reports wicki, “FSIS followed protocol to notify the company and for 2012 and 2013.” they are currently making corrective actions. FSIS is veri- Kennedy adds, “DEQ is still processing the enforcement fying those actions and at this time we have no additional action associated with the annual report violations.” information.” According to Bartel’s emails, the company has improved Kandi Bartels says, “I hate that it happened,” and points capture of the blood on the “harvest floor,” and Kandi Bar- out there was no fee or fine from the agency. She says that tels says the company hired the engineering and environ- aside from this incident, Bartels has scored very high on its mental science firm Kennedy/Jenks for the construction of Safe Quality Food (SQF) audits. Bartels’ SQF and quality lagoons for treating the wastewater. Delta Environmental control manager Rodolfo Mendoza says the company has Services is now doing the water monitoring, she says. passed at least six SQF audits, some at midnight and 2 am, Kandi Bartels also objects to the characterization of the since the November incident. wastewater as blood waste, as she says the blood is hauled Also, in the fall of 2014, Bartels was cited by the DEQ away, at one point to be upcycled into biofuel and currently for submitting late annual reports and incomplete data re- to a methane digester. The percentage of blood in the water ports of the sampling of its wastewater. Kandi Bartels says left behind, she says, is very small. the company was compiling annual reports, but that it was In an April email to Kennedy/Jenks, Kandi Bartels writes, unaware the reports were in the wrong format. “I agree with Paul [Kennedy] that too much blood was going In February of 2014, according to the DEQ, Bartels was into the lagoon with the wastewater,” and she writes “those given a notice of noncompliance for “discharging blood entrusted with oversight were not aware our crew was doing wastes to the Fern Ridge Reservoir.” Under its permit, Bar- such a poor job of blood segregation.” tels can beneficially reuse the wastewater but not discharge But she adds, “This is no longer the case.” it into state waters. Kandi Bartels says as an organic meatpacking company The DEQ’s Compliance and Enforcement division lists that runs cattle and reuses nitrogen-rich wastewater to fertil- more than $70,000 in fines paid by Bartels from 2002 to ize its fields, sometimes there are odors that can’t be dealt 2013, several related to an underground storage tank and with chemically, but she hopes neighbors will call if there others to discharges and monitoring data. are any issues. In a 2013 press release about a previous discharge into “What life do you have if you are not a good neighbor?” a ditch that flows to Fern Ridge, DEQ writes, “Since DEQ she asks. ■ ‘I hate that it happened.’ Accurate Bookkeeping & Tax Service $50 off on preparation of 2014 individual income tax returns new client returns of $160 or more, not cumulative with any other ofer exp. 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