10/06/08 Fall dairy inspections to prevent winter manure spills

Washington Ag October 6, 2008 Washington State Department of Agriculture inspectors are out doing fall assessments at dairies across the state to check whether manure lagoons are ready for the rainy season. Its part of an effort to prevent environmentally damaging overflows from heavy rains or run off from frozen ground. WSDA spokesman Jason Kelly says the inspections will focus on particular dairies. Kelly: "Because we are not able to visit on every dairy farm there is an emphasis on dairy farms that have a greater risk of damage in the event of a spill. Maybe it is a dairy closer to surface water, a stream, an irrigation ditch. Maybe it's a dairy close to a shellfish growing area. The emphasis will be taking place all over the state but we need to prioritize our inspections so that the dairies with the highest danger of a major problem in the even of an over-top or a spill, we can address that issue before it becomes a problem." During last year's inspections Kelly says most dairies were already prepared for winter and only a handful had issues serious enough to call for a repeat inspection. I'm Bob Hoff.