Mega Dairy Opponents in North Dakota Want More Oversight

(Adobe Stock via Prairie News Service)

(By Mike Moen. Prairie News Service) – The potential environmental impact of industrial-style farms gets another look in North Dakota today. A panel that helps oversee the Red River Basin, including its reach into Canada, will hear concerns about planned mega-dairies. North Dakota recently approved permits sought by Riverview LLP, which is beginning work on two separate dairy farms with large herd sizes near the Red River. Environmental groups remain worried about animal waste finding its way into this large waterway. They warn of drinking water in local towns being affected, as well as connecting lakes over in Canada.

Sam Wagner, senior ag and food field organizer for the Dakota Resource Council, said neighboring Minnesota can’t be overlooked, either.

“If there is contamination of the aquifers in the Red River Basin, that [pollution] doesn’t care about state boundaries,” he said.

His group recently filed a lawsuit, alleging that the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality issued one of Riverview’s permits without the necessary pollution controls.

The company insists that the project in question will include multiple safeguards to ensure manure is responsibly handled, stored and applied in accordance with state regulations.