The Center for Food Safety, Friends of Toppenish Creek, and Food & Water Watch petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency yesterday to address alleged groundwater contamination from industrial agriculture that is threatening the health of Lower Yakima Valley residents in Washington state.
Data compiled by the EPA, the Washington Department of Ecology and the Lower Yakima Valley Groundwater Advisory Committee shows that nitrate concentrations in public water systems and underground sources of drinking water exceed federal and state drinking water standards, putting the health of area residents at serious risk, petitioners claim.
“‘There are areas in the Lower Yakima Valley with very high levels of nitrate in well water. Nitrate is colorless, odorless, and tasteless, but it can slow children’s development and bring about early death to parents and grandparents,’” Jean Mendoza, executive director for Friends of Toppenish Creek and a Yakima Valley resident, said in a Center for Food Safety press release. ‘“We ask EPA to bring the force of science and the law to the Yakima Valley and we look forward to a time when the water from domestic wells is once again safe to drink.’”
Drinking water contaminated with nitrate is known to increase the risk of birth defects, cancer and thyroid disease and cause other serious health issues. Past state measures to reduce nitrate levels in drinking water have not been successful, with contamination increasing over the past three decades, the petition states.
“‘Despite knowing for decades about this silent public health crisis, Washington’s local and state governments have failed the people of Yakima Valley for too long, allowing industrial dairies to pollute their drinking water with impunity,’” Amy van Saun, senior attorney for the Center for Food Safety’s Pacific Northwest office, said in the Center for Food Safety press release. ‘“Clean water is a basic right, and one that cannot be sacrificed in the name of cheap milk.’”
Petitioners are calling on the EPA to take emergency measures to protect human health in Lower Yakima Valley, including requiring contaminators to provide a free and safe alternative source of drinking water to impacted communities; prohibiting concentrated animal feeding operations from expanding until nitrate concentrations fall below unsafe levels; notifying the public of potential contamination events; and cleaning up contaminated soils endangering underground sources of drinking water. Petitioners also request the EPA seek injunctions to return the area’s underground aquifers to a safe and drinkable condition.
‘“The Safe Drinking Water Act fully empowers EPA to take emergency action to protect human health in Washington in these circumstances, and the petition demonstrates that it must,’” Tarah Heinzen, legal director of Food & Water Watch, said in the Center for Food Safety press release.
