NM Environment Department Secretary Ron Curry on Feb. 27, 2008, denied a discharge permit for the proposed Para Sol Dairy near Truth or Consequences. The main reason for the denial was that lagoons at the dairy would have bee 30 feet from the Percha Creek flood plain that ultimately feeds into the Rio Grande and provides drinking, recreational, and irrigation water downstream.

“The dairy’s proximity to Percha Creek posed too great a threat to surface water that residents rely on for drinking water, irrigation water and recreational uses,” Curry said. “New Mexico has limited surface water and we must protect it.” He concurred with Hearing Officer Felicia Orth’s recommendation, which stated the dairy’s proximity to the Creek posed “significant undue risk to property including surface water.”

The applicant, John McCatharn, proposed to discharge up to 8,000 gallons a day of dairy wastewater from the dairy off N.M.187, approximately 5 miles southwest of Caballo and less than two miles from Caballo Lake in Sierra County. Wastewater from the milking parlor would have flowed from a pipeline to a lined lagoon. Groundwater beneath the location is between 32 and 57 feet. McCatharn intended to move an existing dairy he owns on the south side of Albuquerque to the location adjacent to Percha Creek.

McCatharn proposed to discharge green water from dairy operations to fields in the flood plain. Other reasons for denying the permit included frequent and ferocious flooding in the area that could have carried discharges from the facility into the floodplain.

According to Dan Lorimier, Rio Grande Chapter lobbyist, this represents a major victory for the chapter and the Southern Group. Caballo Concerned Citizens (over 400 local residents from the surrounding community) formed in opposition to the project. And the Sierra Club's Southern Group mobilized member/activists in Sierra County to speak against the Groundwater Discharge Permit Application at Environment Department Hearings last November.

The billboard shows a black-and-white Guernsey cow in a verdant green grassy field. It is advertising milk by showing a “happy cow.” But the picture couldn’t be further from the truth when it comes to the proposed Para Sol Dairy in Percha Creek in Sierra County.

This concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) is slated to be only a few thousand feet from Caballo Lake State Park and Percha Dam State Park and there won’t be a blade of grass there. Instead, 2,000 cows will be standing in their own manure producing 8,000 gallons of toxin-containing effluent every day, pathogen-laden dust, flies, and noxious air pollution.

The population of Sierra County is only about 13,000 people, but according to the Environmental Protection Agency, a dairy cow produces the same amount of waste as 23 people. This proposed feedlot dairy will be the same in terms of waste as adding 46,000 people to the county with no sewage treatment plant for them. The effluent is to be stored in synthetic membrane-lined waste ponds or lagoons. These will be around 50 feet above precious groundwater. Studies in southern NM have shown that even lined with this material, leakage into groundwater will occur. The contaminants will include nitrates, which pose a serious health hazard to humans and, once escaped into the environment, can migrate well away from the dairy. The direction of groundwater flow under the dairy heads straight to the Rio Grande and the state parks, which are jewels in the region for recreation, fishing, and birding. The manure itself will be on site and removed only twice a year.

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The proposed dairy is in a floodplain and even the best mitigations will not be enough to keep contaminated effluent from spilling out during an extreme flood event. We have seen such events in recent years and with climate change we are more likely to see even more frequent and more extreme flooding in the future. This type of flooding will spread not only noxious chemicals but pathogens as well. Lagoons in this type of operation contain bacteria such as cryptosporidium, E. coli, and giardia in addition to pfisteria, which is deadly to fish. Chemically, the nitrates and ammonia will encourage algal blooms, which can be toxic to fish and other aquatic life plus the algae consumes the nutrients these creatures need. Once leaked or spilled, these agents can persist in the environment for weeks or even months.

Besides the hazards that the wastewater poses, there are additional hazards in the air. The odor of the waste lagoons can contain over 170 different chemical substances. Anyone who has driven near Anthony in Southern NM on I-10 can attest to the stench a concentrated animal dairy emits. Many of these chemicals such as ammonia and hydrogen sulfide are toxic even at low concentrations when the exposure is constant. Studies of these dairies have shown that the rural population surrounding them suffers health problems directly related to the quality of the air. In addition to the volatile chemicals from the waste lagoons, there are also health concerns from flies and dust. Flies can disperse one to two miles from the dairy and can spread salmonella, amoebic dysentery, E. coli, cryptosporidium, and conjunctivitis. Some of these disease-causing organisms will be resistant to antibiotics due to their near-constant use at the dairy itself. Flies can also cause nearby crops intended for human consumption to become vectors for these diseases. Flies around this type of operation are nearly impossible to control. Dairy dust from the action of hooves and equipment on cattle feces contains microbes, endotoxins, and aerosolized allergens. Children living near dairies in Southern NM suffer higher rates of diarrhea and asthma.

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Placing a concentrated animal dairy so close to groundwater and the Rio Grande, in a floodplain, and so near to the state parks – one of them among the top five birding sites in New Mexico – makes no sense. There is too much at stake for local residents, the local economy, and the environment.

Please write to the Sierra County Commission and ask them to stop the dairy. This is important if you live in Sierra County but it is also important to let the Commissioners know that NM state parks are popular tourist destinations, which are specifically mentioned in the county plan and are very important to the economy of Sierra County. The address is Sierra County Commission, 100 Date Street, Truth or Consequences, NM 87901. Please send a copy of your letter to Secretary Ron Curry, NM Environment Department, PO Box 26110, 1190 St. Francis Drive N4050, Santa Fe, NM 87505, and to the Governor.

For more information, contact Mary Katherine Ray.

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This view looks north at the location of the proposed Para Sol Dairy concentrated animal feeding operation. Note that it is in a floodplain only a short distance from Caballo Lake State Park and Percha Dam State Park at the south ends of Caballo Lake. Elephant Butte Lake can be seen further up the Rio Grande Valley. (Aerial image from Google)

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By Dan Lorimier

From Rio Grande Sierran, Jan./Feb. 2008

The ParaSol Dairy is planned to be sited less than two miles from the shores of Caballo Reservoir on the Rio Grande, both proximal to and within the Perch Creek floodplain. Allowing the project to move forward in this extremely vulnerable location would ultimately threaten essential water resources across the state with ground and surface water contamination from this aggressive and environmentally costly industry.

November was an active month for opponents of the proposed 2,000-head dairy concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO). Requiring a permit from the Groundwater Quality Bureau of the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), the applicant held a “welcome me to your community” meeting in TorC where he was greeted with distain and mistrust by most of the more than 75 meeting participants.

Two weeks later, the Groundwater Quality Bureau held a public hearing on the permit application, and received testimony against the proposal from the grassroots and opinion leaders from the local community of Caballo. Unless Environment Department Secretary Ron Curry refuses to sign the permit, it is likely to be approved by the Groundwater Quality Bureau. A decision is expected this winter.

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Meanwhile, the Sierra County Commission is studying ways to control the spread of expected CAFOs into other environmentally valuable areas of the county. As is so often the case, local government ends up holding the line against poorly sited development. We are working with the commission as they review options developed in other counties in New Mexico and across the country that protect citizens and the environment from careless proposals such as ParaSol Dairy. The Rio Grande Chapter and the Southern Group are partnering with the local opponents, Caballo Concerned Citizens, to protest and offer alternatives to both state-permitting agencies and the county commission.

We are also benefiting in this campaign from the help of the Western Environmental Law Center, the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, Amigos Bravos, Grace Factory Farms, and others. Additionally, the Bureau of Reclamation, the New Mexico State Parks, the Interstate Stream Commission, the Elephant Butte Irrigation District, and other state and federal agencies are concerned by the permit application. These agencies may offer support in our fight against this extreme proposal.

Contact Dan Lorimier to find out how you can help block this environmentally compromised plan..

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