VIEWPOINTS
Saturday, July 16, 2022
East Oregonian
A5
Too little too late from dirty dairies
KRISTINA
BEGGEN
OTHER VIEWS
W
hen dangerous nitrate levels
in Morrow County’s drink-
ing water plunged the area into
a crisis, Oregon’s largest mega-dairy,
Threemile Canyon Farms, and its proces-
sor, the Tillamook Creamery Association,
were quick to step in with offers of finan-
cial assistance.
But while their efforts may help with
immediate water needs in Boardman,
these companies are part of the problem.
Waste from dairy and beef cattle like the
69,000 housed at Threemile Canyon’s
facilities generated a significant amount of
the nitrogen that fouled groundwater in the
Lower Umatilla Basin.
The only way to truly protect Morrow
County’s groundwater and aquifers is to
address nitrate contamination at its source:
mega-dairies and other factory farms.
The Stand Up to Factory Farms coali-
tion urged the EPA more than two years
ago to address nitrate levels in Eastern
Oregon’s Lower Umatilla Basin that were
already exceeding federal and state safety
standards. We’ve known the danger for
decades. And in 2015, Oregon’s Depart-
ment of Environmental Quality found
nearly half of the groundwater wells
sampled had hazardous levels of nitrates.
Test wells on Threemile Canyon Farms’
Mega-dairies like Threemile Canyon
have been increasingly relying on digest-
ers to greenwash their waste problem and
capture methane that can be sold to energy
companies as “clean” fuel. But digesters
rely on continued use of massive “lagoons”
that are prone to leaks and leaching into
“COWS IN THE LOWER UMATILLA
BASIN PRODUCED 4.3 BILLION
POUNDS OF MANURE IN 2019, 516
TIMES MORE THAN THE WASTE
PRODUCED BY THE AREA’S
HUMAN POPULATION.”
land have shown nitrate levels above
state-established guidelines for health.
Cows in the Lower Umatilla Basin
produced 4.3 billion pounds of manure
in 2019, 516 times more than the waste
produced by the area’s human popula-
tion. And according to Oregon agencies,
CAFOs are the largest source of nitrates in
the Lower Umatilla Basin.
groundwater. A digester spill in 2019 sent
more than 300,000 gallons of manure into
the Tillamook River.
Despite an advertising campaign
projecting images of pasture-based cows
and small farms, Tillamook has a trou-
bled history of partnering with mega-dair-
ies responsible for widespread water and
air contamination. The company worked
to conceal its contract with the disgraced
Lost Valley Farms Dairy, which chalked
up 200 environmental violations and jeop-
ardized 81 water systems.
Today, Tillamook maintains contracts
with Threemile Canyon. Yet earlier in
the year, Threemile Canyon faced sharp
criticism when it was revealed its onsite
digester had been violating Oregon’s air
quality laws for more than a year even as
the company received “green” credits from
a California low carbon fuels program.
If Threemile Canyon Farms were seri-
ous about helping Eastern Oregonians
in this crisis, it would stop threatening
drinking water with its dangerous waste
management practices. If Tillamook
wanted to commit resources to provid-
ing fresh water for people, it would stop
buying milk from mega-dairies. And if
Oregon’s lawmakers were serious about
safeguarding groundwater and aquifers
in this megadrought, they would institute
a mega-dairy moratorium and stop these
facilities from polluting our climate and
water resources.
———
Kristina Beggen is the lead organizer
for the Stand Up to Factory Farms coali-
tion and Food & Water Watch’s Oregon
campaigns.
ANDREW
CUTLER
FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
Optimistic
about the
future
of news
N
ews about my industry isn’t good.
Recently, the New York Times
reported more than 300 newspa-
pers closed across the nation during the
coronavirus pandemic. That’s about two
closures a week. Interestingly enough,
more newspapers were predicted to
fail than actually did because of the
economic hit the pandemic delivered.
So good news, bad news?
Perhaps.
No one that I know of carries a crys-
tal ball that accurately predicts the future
(if you do, we need to talk. That would be
a good story) so it is hard to tell what the
latest industry news means for the long-
term. Is it time to panic? Of course not.
There is always a fair amount of hand-
wringing and gloom and doom predica-
tions when such news is released. The
news more than 300 newspapers failed
during the pandemic is by no stretch
of the imagination positive. In fact, it’s
dismal. And it should matter to you.
Newspapers and digital, broadcast
and radio outlets are crucial to delivering
information that matters to Americans.
If you, the reader, the voter, can count on
information you receive from a news outlet
you are better informed. That means you
can make more wise decisions regard-
ing who and what you vote for. Ameri-
cans in every state and every county are
far better off with a robust news organi-
zation striving to keep us informed.
A good newspaper must be a watch-
dog of government expenses and poli-
cies, yet it also must be a vehicle for
showcasing what is good and positive in
a community. Those two separate goals
often collide. Yet a hard-hitting investi-
gative piece and a feature about a positive
community issue can both co-exist inside
a newspaper. Once more, they should.
The problems we face as news men
and women now is one of percep-
tion for many. Our political climate has
made such concepts such as “fair” and
“balanced” news coverage a zero-sum
game, where information is tailored
and manufactured by fringe elements
who then spin it into the mainstream.
We have to guard against allow-
ing those who seek to always wave the
bloody shirt to have more sway than
they deserve. Everyone has a right to
express an opinion and we should respect
all opinions but as Americans, and
Oregonians, we need to use a certain
degree of common sense as well.
I believe Americans want a reli-
able news source. That deep down they
understand how important it is to have
a “fourth estate” that provides an over-
watch of government and delivers trust-
ful information on a regular basis.
So, while I cringe and worry about the
loss of newspapers, I am also optimistic that
our industry isn’t dead nor will it die. I am
optimistic that we can, and do, provide fair
and balanced coverage of our local area.
———
Andrew Cutler is the publisher/editor of
the East Oregonian and the regional edito-
rial director for the EO Media Group, over-
seeing the East Oregonian and five more
newspapers in Eastern Oregon.
Compromise only goes so far
before action needed
RYNDA CLARK
MATHIEU FEDERSPIEL
OTHER VIEWS
E
arlier this month, our organi-
zations joined with our allies
and went to court to restore
protections for large trees in East-
ern Oregon. The editors of this
paper argued it represented failure
on all sides. We agree. To a point.
Anytime we go to court, it is the
result of failure. In this case, it was
the Forest Service’s failure to abide by
the law. A fundamental concept of our
democracy is that no one — not even the
government — is above the law. Regard-
less of their means, citizens have a right
to hold their government accountable.
Our primary concern is for the
health of our forests and commu-
nities. We support some thinning
near communities and appropriate
restoration of forests that have been
degraded by fire suppression, logging
and overgrazing. None of those things
require cutting our biggest and oldest
trees or logging the backcountry.
When a political appointee signed
a decision to undermine decades old
protections for our forests, it capped
off a politically driven process. It also
cut sovereign tribes and the general
public off from legally required oppor-
tunities to seek a better outcome.
Left with no choice but to allow
the illegally amended rule to stand
or challenge it in court, we chose to
fight for our forests and our rights.
Had the substance of the decision
been different, we’d fully expect the
logging industry to do the same.
We understand there are other
perspectives out there. While we find
their rhetoric misleading, we acknowl-
edge the logging industry has a right
to free speech and to use their polit-
ical clout to increase their profits.
The real failure is with the Forest
Service, which failed to honor commit-
“THE REAL
FAILURE IS
WITH THE
FOREST SERVICE
WHICH FAILED
TO HONOR
COMMITMENTS
MADE OVER TWO
DECADES AGO.”
ments made more than two decades ago.
Supporters of the new rules that allow
logging the largest 3% of trees often tell
the half-truth that they replaced protec-
tions that were meant to be temporary.
They don’t mention those protections
were meant to be temporary until the
agency crafted comprehensive rules that
would take all interests into account —
including those of us who advocate for
clean water, wildlife habitat and healthy
communities. That never happened.
The agency regularly made
exceptions to the rules. Some-
times with our support.
When we learned the Trump admin-
istration was changing the rules,
we were skeptical. Still, we partici-
pated in good faith. Just as the editors
suggested, we sat down and offered
compromises and proposals we thought
could lead to a good outcome.
However, those olive branches
were brushed aside. During a period
of historic conflict and distrac-
tion, and under tremendous polit-
ical pressure, the agency pushed
toward a predetermined outcome.
That outcome was opposed by dozens
of conservation, climate, Indigenous
and public health groups, thousands of
citizens, 115 independent scientists, and
even former Forest Service leadership.
We played by the rules.
The agency did not.
So, when a political appointee
ended the process by signing a deci-
sion that violated numerous laws,
we were left with little choice but to
exercise our constitutional rights and
stand up to our own government.
We join the editors in wanting to
see compromise from all sides and
a better path forward. We also agree
that Sen. Ron Wyden has a history of
bringing folks together as he did with
his East Side forest bill years ago.
For that to happen again, protec-
tions must be restored, with the goal
of working toward a viable solu-
tion. We’ll be waiting at the table.
———
Rynda Clark is on the leadership team
of the Great Old Broads for Wilderness,
which has four active chapters in Oregon.
Mathieu Federspiel is on the leadership
team of the Juniper Group of the Oregon
Sierra Club.