In a precedent-setting decision earlier this month that received
scant national coverage, a federal district court judge in Washington
State ordered a CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation),
also known as a factory farm, to monitor groundwater, drainage and soil
for illegal pollution resulting from its grossly inadequate manure
management practices in violation of the Clean Water Act. This
first-ever ruling holding a CAFO accountable for its pollution was a
result of a lawsuit by the nonprofit Community Association for
Restoration of the Environment (CARE) against the Nelson Faria Dairy in
Royal, Wash. The ruling upholds the terms of a 2006 settlement CARE had
with the dairy’s previous owners, which the current owners subsequently ignored.
The case underscores one of the major problems with CAFOs, which is the massive amount of manure they produce and the manners by which operators dispose of it, which have major environmental implications.
