More than 50 dead cows found buried in manure piles at Merced County dairy
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Gustine dairy owner ordered to remove carcasses by March 30
State water regulators found more than 50 decomposing cow carcasses at a Merced County dairy, and the operator could face fines and a referral to the state Attorney General's office.
The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board issued a cleanup order this week to the Rego Dairy, located at 6255 Haley Road in Gustine. Owner Franklin Rego has until March 30 to dispose of the carcasses. If he can't meet that deadline, he could face fines.
State inspectors found the rotting cows partially buried in manure several weeks ago during a routine visit to the farm.
"The unhealthy and dangerous conditions at this small dairy are severe," said water board executive officer Pamela Creedon in a press release. "The vast majority of dairy operators in the Central Valley work hard to follow good management practices, and blatant disregard for the law impacts both surface and groundwater, posing dangers to public health and polluting the waters of the State of California."
Inspectors found a number of other water quality concerns, including eroded paths where wastewater had flowed off the property and into a nearby drainage ditch, excessive weeds and rodent holes, and multiple discarded veterinary medical supplies, including syringes. Inspectors also found evidence of cropland being used as a dumping area for manure wastewater from the lagoon, according to the press release.
The owner of the dairy, Franklin Rego, said cows were buried there three or four years ago after the animals got sick and died because of a bad batch of feed. When the cows died, Rego had some of them taken away by a rendering company. But concerns about mad cow disease years ago left the job undone, he said.
"Once they decomposed I was dumbfounded," he said. "I didn't know what to do. We were clueless of what do with them. We only found out yesterday of what do with them on the (water board's) website."
Once cows and other animals decompose past a certain point, rendering plants can no longer take them, said Robert Busby, regional water board spokesman. In this case, the carcasses must be taken to a specific landfill that's state certified to accept the remains.
This was the first time since 2007 the Rego dairy had been inspected, said Busby, adding this kind of violation "happens, but the board is not aware of it happening too often. There are 1,600 dairies in California. We inspect which ones we can on a regular basis."
Rego said he and his family won a lawsuit against a Land-O-Lakes subsidiary that sold them the bad cow feed. But he said the money received from the lawsuit barely covered his losses from losing the cows and from other expenses.
The family plans to put the farm up for auction in about thirty days, he said. "It's just the dairy business. The banks don't work with anybody. It's been a rough five years. We're getting out of the business."
The water board is investigating the dairy's effects on water quality, and the California Department of Fish and Game is reviewing the effects on local aquatic life, Busby said. The state is requiring Rego to conduct his own study of water quality effects.
Reporter Josh Smith can be reached at (209) 385-2486 or jsmith@mercedsunstar.com.
The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board issued a cleanup order this week to the Rego Dairy, located at 6255 Haley Road in Gustine. Owner Franklin Rego has until March 30 to dispose of the carcasses. If he can't meet that deadline, he could face fines.
State inspectors found the rotting cows partially buried in manure several weeks ago during a routine visit to the farm.
"The unhealthy and dangerous conditions at this small dairy are severe," said water board executive officer Pamela Creedon in a press release. "The vast majority of dairy operators in the Central Valley work hard to follow good management practices, and blatant disregard for the law impacts both surface and groundwater, posing dangers to public health and polluting the waters of the State of California."
Inspectors found a number of other water quality concerns, including eroded paths where wastewater had flowed off the property and into a nearby drainage ditch, excessive weeds and rodent holes, and multiple discarded veterinary medical supplies, including syringes. Inspectors also found evidence of cropland being used as a dumping area for manure wastewater from the lagoon, according to the press release.
The owner of the dairy, Franklin Rego, said cows were buried there three or four years ago after the animals got sick and died because of a bad batch of feed. When the cows died, Rego had some of them taken away by a rendering company. But concerns about mad cow disease years ago left the job undone, he said.
"Once they decomposed I was dumbfounded," he said. "I didn't know what to do. We were clueless of what do with them. We only found out yesterday of what do with them on the (water board's) website."
Once cows and other animals decompose past a certain point, rendering plants can no longer take them, said Robert Busby, regional water board spokesman. In this case, the carcasses must be taken to a specific landfill that's state certified to accept the remains.
This was the first time since 2007 the Rego dairy had been inspected, said Busby, adding this kind of violation "happens, but the board is not aware of it happening too often. There are 1,600 dairies in California. We inspect which ones we can on a regular basis."
Rego said he and his family won a lawsuit against a Land-O-Lakes subsidiary that sold them the bad cow feed. But he said the money received from the lawsuit barely covered his losses from losing the cows and from other expenses.
The family plans to put the farm up for auction in about thirty days, he said. "It's just the dairy business. The banks don't work with anybody. It's been a rough five years. We're getting out of the business."
The water board is investigating the dairy's effects on water quality, and the California Department of Fish and Game is reviewing the effects on local aquatic life, Busby said. The state is requiring Rego to conduct his own study of water quality effects.
Reporter Josh Smith can be reached at (209) 385-2486 or jsmith@mercedsunstar.com.
no mad cows there in that pile, RIGHT!
I am sure they were all tested for BSE typical or atypical ???
this is what we call THE USDA SSS MAD COW POLICY, shoot, shovel, and shut the hell up$
course, California ought to be use to it by now after the QFC debacle.
BSE MAD COW SSS POLICY ALIVE AND WELL IN THE USA 2012
2012
Subject: Infectivity in Skeletal Muscle of Cattle with Atypical Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
UPDATE NORTH AMERICA MAD COW DISEASE
Monday, March 19, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
APHIS Proposes New Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Import Regulations in Line with International Animal Health Standards Proposal Aims to Ensure Health of the U.S. Beef Herd, Assist in Negotiations
Sunday, November 13, 2011
California BSE mad cow beef recall, QFC, CJD, and dead stock downer livestock
TSS
