An average 1,500-pound cow produces its own body weight in manure every week. With more than 55,000 dairy cows, Whatcom County is dealing with a waste-weight equivalent to the amount produced by 2.8 million people — more than Seattle, Spokane, San Francisco and Portland’s human waste combined.
Whatcom County ranks second in the state and 15th in the country in dairy production. An average 46 inches of annual rainfall flush manure from farmlands to ditches and then into rivers, which eventually empty into bays. Of all livestock operations, including pork, beef and poultry, dairy farm waste is of greatest concern, said Kirk Robinson, lead inspector of the Washington State Department of Agriculture’s program to protect water from livestock nutrient discharges. This program, until 2002, answered to the Washington State Department of Ecology.
"Dairy farms deal with a liquid form of sewage, so it can be more of a problem with the water supply," Robinson said.
Poor management of this liquid waste, called slurry, can lead to environmentally damaging emissions of certain chemicals. Direct discharge of the waste into bodies of water can disrupt aquatic ecosystems by causing rapid growth in microorganisms, resulting in reduced oxygen levels.
Waste also can contribute fecal coliform bacteria to water bodies. Bacterial contamination has led to closures of numerous shellfish harvesting areas. For example, the Lummi Nation closed 60 acres of Portage Bay shellfish beds in 1996 because of high fecal coliform counts. The Lummi aquaculture industry consequently lost $250,000.
In 1997, the EPA responded to the Lummi Nation’s concerns that animal waste was contaminating shellfish beds. The Lummi Natural Resources Department conducted EPA-funded studies and concluded that agricultural animal waste — specifically that from dairy farms — was the primary source of this contamination.
Dave Ragsdale, environmental engineer for EPA-led dairy inspections, said the EPA inspected 57 dairy farms in Whatcom County, finding that all but six of these farms displayed manure management practices that didn’t adequately prevent spills into nearby water bodies. The EPA warned some farmers and fined others, depending on how poor their practices were.
"It was (this) event that occurred in Whatcom County that changed the whole state law," said Chuck Timblin, resource specialist at the Whatcom Conservation District.
Manure Management
The federal Clean Water Act of 1972 prohibits concentrated animal feeding operations from allowing manure to discharge into surface and groundwater. But for 26 years, no state agency routinely monitored manure management practices in Washington.
In 1998, Washington passed the Dairy Nutrient Management Act, requiring dairy farms to store all their manure in lagoons for the winter rainy season. In the growing season, generally from June to May, farms are required to fertilize their fields at appropriate levels, accounting for soil absorbency and expected rainfall.
The act also authorized Ecology to begin an inspection program for all dairy farms in the state. But Ecology suggested ending the program in 2002 because of a lack of funding. Concerned dairy farmers met with EPA officials at the regional office in Seattle.
"The dairy industry felt we needed a stick out there to beat on the guy who wasn’t playing by the rules," said Larry Stap, a Lynden dairy farmer.
The Washington State Dairy Federation lobbied the state Legislature to transfer the program from Ecology to the Department of Agriculture. In July 2003, Sens. Marilyn Rasmussen and Mark Schoesler sponsored the bill and the state Senate ratified it.
"When Ecology proposed cutting the dairy inspection program, it was a proposal," Ragsdale said. "The state dairy federation saw that as an opportunity to fund the Department of Agriculture rather than finding money in the state Legislature to fund that program."
When the program transferred to the Department of Agriculture in July 2003, the number of inspections decreased substantially, according to the Lummi NRD. Eight inspectors worked for Ecology, two of whom were hired specifically to oversee Whatcom County. The Department of Agriculture, however, hired one inspector in 2003 to oversee Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, Island, and northern King counties.
"We have only had this program for two years. I think all in all it’s been successful," Robinson said. "It’s a new program and it takes everybody a while to adjust to a new program."
Ragsdale agrees that the program could still be recovering from the transition of departments.
"The results have indicated that it hasn’t been working," Ragsdale said. "But I hope they can get it to improve water quality."
Robinson said the majority of dairy farms in Whatcom County are in compliance with water quality regulations. During the past two and a half years of the Department of Agriculture inspections, only four out of 165 dairy farms in Whatcom County have leaked enough manure to warrant fines.
But according to the Lummi NRD, the transfer from Ecology to the Department of Agriculture — and subsequent budget and staff cuts — has greatly reduced the efficiency of the inspections.
Dairy Farm Impact
"Instead of improving trends, fecal coliform counts have gone up and water quality is declining," Ragsdale said.
Although the Department of Agriculture agrees that fecal coliform counts in Portage Bay are elevated, it still disputes dairy farms’ contribution. Ragsdale said he agrees that the analysis of dairy farm impact is inconclusive.
"One of the things I see in Whatcom County is a lot of growth," Ragsdale said. "Runoff associated with development is much more ubiquitous."
Partial and complete shellfish bed closures due to high fecal coliform counts in Portage Bay have affected approximately 200 tribal shellfish harvesters and their families since 1996, according to the Lummi NRD. Since that closure, government grants and other programs contributed more than $8 million to help the agricultural community improve its manure storage practices.
Lummi NRD officials urge for increased effort in dairy farm manure management and a role for the EPA in the state agriculture enforcement program.