MARK WAITE / PVT The cows are obviously involved in what happens at the Ponderosa Dairy in Amargosa Valley. MARK WAITE / PVT With significantly more vested interest are area residents, who crowd around Bruce Holmgren, staff engineer for the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, as he shows the location of monitoring wells on a lap-top computer. Advertisement

AMARGOSA VALLEY -- Susan Sasso said it was the first time she had a chance to have a dialog about her concerns over the Ponderosa Dairy. She only wished it was dairy officials who were present at a hearing Tuesday evening instead of the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection.

Rockview Farms applied to increase its permitted water discharge from 625,000 gallons per day to a million gallons at the Ponderosa Dairy, which is classified as a concentrated animal feeding operation.

About 40 people took the opportunity of the hearing to pepper environmental officials and consultants with questions about their concerns over the water supply in Amargosa Valley.

"We are all dependent on our well water in this valley and we need well water that's safe to drink and I think anything that would cause pollution of our well water should be prohibited," said John Bosta.

Amargosa Valley Town Board Chairwoman Jan Cameron said, "I respectfully request that the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection take a serious look at the way it monitors our natural resources and the effect of businesses such as the dairy upon our natural resources."

She expressed concern over the flies, the irrigation of fields with cow manure and other by-products of the dairy operation.

"I do not feel personally that our environment is in fact being protected as it should be at this point in time," Cameron said. "I have great concern over the water quality in this valley over time."

Bruce Crater, another leading critic, asked if the dairy would permit an independent group to inspect the facilities.

Bruce Holmgren, staff engineer for the NDEP Bureau of Water Pollution Control, said the dairy is required to submit quarterly samples of monitoring wells of water quality which have to be tested by a state certified lab.

Jim Leonard said allowing the dairy to take their own samples "is like leaving the fox in charge of the hen house."

The dairy uses two synthetically lined ponds and one organically lined pond, Holmgren said. While the facilities meet state environmental regulations, he said, "there is going to be leakage through both liners."

Kathy Barent, an employee at the dairy, said she moved to Amargosa Valley with her family four years ago from Nebraska. She questioned why everyone is so against the dairy.

"We're asking for more water, not more nitrates," Barent said. "My husband tests our well every month. We have 99.9 percent pure water coming from our well. We live a mile west of the dairy in the aquifer. I'm really sad you're so upset with the dairy because I think it's more of a personal view rather than a factual view."

But skeptical residents wanted to know if they could view reports on the dairy locally, like at the library, instead of at staff offices in Carson City. Some complained they received notice of the pollution discharge hearing through someone other than the NDEP.

"The way they have performed in the past does not make us think in Amargosa that they have the community's interest at heart," said Leslie Eastman.

Jay Lazarus, a geohydrologist with Glorieta Geosciences, said the discharged water will not be like sewage, but is water coming from the cow milking parlors. Holmgren reported the dairy has 8,200 cows.

The dairy has an annual production of 14,000 tons of compost material annually, which is heated at 135 to 155 degrees to kill any pathogens, senior agronomist Reddy Ganta said. The finished compost material is of extremely high quality fertilizer, with a very low fecal coliform count, he said.

The dairy has 865 acres of land application area for the manure. The dairy doesn't use chemical fertilizers, which qualifies it as an organic facility, Ganta said.

Local residents were unimpressed.

"Is this something you would like to have spread in your front yard?" Crater asked.

"The dairy has not applied to apply green water outside of their facility," Lazarus replied.

The nutrient management plan requires the Ponderosa Dairy to have enough lagoon storage for 60 days of green water storage and accommodate runoff from a 25 year storm event, Ganta said. The dairy has 220 acres of lagoon storage, it's only required to have 207 acres, Holmgren said.

Holmgren told Robert Eastman, a former Amargosa Valley town board member, the dairy upgraded its facilities from the time there was a major spill in 1999 during a 100-year flood event.

Bill Barrackman pushed for bonding the dairy, he said if it ever closes down, "they left quite a mess over there."

When it comes to that many cows, Ed Munton said, "the urine is big time as far as volume."

Lazarus said the discharge permit is being increased not because the dairy is increasing the number of cows.

"It's because they now have more accurate records of how much water is being used. The previous permit was based on estimates, now they have flow meters," he said. The water discharge permit was originally issued in 2000, Lazarus said.

"The dairy industry as a whole is starting to come to grips with its water use inside the milking parlor," Lazarus said. Previously dairies weren't required to have meters on green water use, he said.

The increased water discharge should decrease the concentration of waste, Lazarus said.