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U.S. EPA orders five Southern California dairies to comply with federal Clean Water Act

Release Date: 9/14/2005
Contact Information: Francisco Arcaute, (213) 244-1815, Cell: (213) 798-1404

Dairies located in Chino, San Jacinto and Perris

LOS ANGELES -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently ordered five dairies located in the Southern California cities of Chino, San Jacinto, and Perris to comply with wastewater requirements under the Clean Water Act or face fines up to $32,500 per day per violation.

The EPA issued the orders to the Mike Precie Dairy, Mira Vista Dairy, Tee Vee Dairy No. 2, Jim Nyenhuis Dairy, and John Rocha Dairy. Runoff from their facilities could pollute the Santa Ana and San Jacinto Rivers.

The EPA cited the dairies for violations of state-issued permits, such as failure to build a spillway, berm or containment structure for the dairy waste.

"Wastewater discharges from dairies can threaten water quality in nearby rivers and streams." said Alexis Strauss, director of the EPA's Water Division in San Francisco. "We expect these dairies to comply with their permit requirements to protect public health, the Santa Ana Watershed, and the San Jacinto Watershed.

The EPA fined numerous dairies in the Chino area of Southern California in 2000 and 2001 for similar Clean Water Act violations. The EPA, along with 14 other signatories from the dairy industry, academia, environmental, and other state and federal agencies, formed the California Dairy Quality Assurance Partnership (CDQAP) to provide compliance assistance to dairy producers and operators.

Through the CDQAP's voluntary Environmental Stewardship program, producers learn how to meet all federal, state, regional and local requirements related to manure and nutrient management and protect surface and groundwater.

In California, compliance with the Clean Water Act's permit program is overseen by the State's Regional Water Quality Control Boards. At the request of the Regional Water Quality Control Board, Santa Ana Region, the EPA inspected these dairies between April and September, 2004.

For more information on the program go to: https://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/index.cfm