MORRIS, Minn. — The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) has joined Food & Water Watch in suing the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) over the state’s recent failure to order an environmental impact statement (EIS) for Riverview’s proposed West River Dairy expansion near Morris. If built, the 18,855-cow facility would be the largest factory farm in the state — more than 60 times the size of the average Minnesota dairy — producing over 200 million gallons of waste annually. The facility is already located next to two impaired waterways, the Pomme de Terre River and an unnamed creek. The expansion would also generate a minimum of 66,000 tons of additional greenhouse gas emissions each year, although this number severely underestimates the full scope of the project’s climate impacts.
The lawsuit, which was filed July 29, alleges that, based on the extensive impacts such a facility could have, the failure to require an EIS before approving the expansion was in violation of state and federal law. The petition requests judicial review of the MPCA’s decision, arguing the agency failed to consider evidence of likely impacts to the climate, water resources and the social and economic wellbeing of surrounding communities. Food & Water Watch and FarmSTAND are representing the Land Stewardship Project in this action, and Food & Water Watch is also representing itself.
“The MPCA’s decision not to issue an EIS on this, the largest ever livestock operation in our state, left so many questions unanswered,” said Matthew Sheets, an LSP organizer. “As an organizer within my community and as a resident of Morris, our concerns and questions deserve answers. We deserve to know our community will be safe from any impacts this project will have — especially given the track record we have seen with Riverview in other parts of the state and country.”
“It is hard to overstate the environmental destruction threatened by Riverview’s proposed West River factory farm expansion,” said Tarah Heinzen, Legal Director for Food & Water Watch. “The company’s attempt to deepen its stranglehold on Minnesota’s dairy industry will come at enormous cost to our air, water and climate. Minnesota’s reckless refusal to conduct a detailed environmental impact study before approving the facility’s expansion will not stand in court.”
“Riverview’s proposed mega-dairy expansion is a prime example of why robust environmental review is required to protect people and the environment,” said Holly Bainbridge, FarmSTAND’s senior attorney. “If the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency won’t do its job on behalf of Minnesotans, we’ll force them to in court. In every state it expands to, the mega-dairy model is an environmental disaster for surrounding communities. It also fuels dairy industry consolidation that has devastating impacts on small-scale dairy farmers and rural economies.”
The filing comes amidst growing calls for action on a worsening nationwide drinking water contamination crisis tied to factory farm waste. West River Dairy is authorized to use waste disposal practices that are known to cause runoff and leaching of nitrates and other dangerous pollutants into drinking water and the environment. Roughly 1 in 5 Americans’ drinking water contains elevated levels of nitrates, linked to cancers, among other human health problems.
Riverview owns 16 mega-dairies in Minnesota alone, housing more than 135,000 cows — nearly a third of the state’s entire dairy herd. Meanwhile, the average Minnesota dairy raises fewer than 280 cows. In addition to the West River expansion, Riverview has proposed a 25,000 cow mega-dairy in Herberg, N.D.; a 12,500 cow mega-dairy in Abercrombie, N.D.; and a 25,000 cow mega-dairy in Edmunds County, S.D. The company also has a major presence in New Mexico and Arizona. Food & Water Watch is also representing Dakota Resource Council in a lawsuit challenging North Dakota’s permit for Riverview’s Herberg mega-dairy.
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The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering an ethic of stewardship for farmland, promoting sustainable agriculture and developing healthy communities in the food and farming system. LSP has offices in the Minnesota communities of Montevideo, Lewiston and South Minneapolis. More information is available at landstewardshipproject.org.
With more than two million supporters, Food & Water Watch fights for sustainable food, clean water and a livable climate for all. Food & Water Watch protects people from the corporations and other destructive economic interests that put profit ahead of everything else. More information is available at foodandwaterwatch.org.
FarmSTAND is the only legal advocacy organization in the country dedicated solely to taking on all industrial animal agriculture. FarmSTAND, which originated as the Food Project at Public Justice before becoming an independent organization, drives precedent-setting litigation rooted in our relationships with movement partners, and is building a nationwide network of attorneys with the knowledge and skills to fight alongside communities impacted by corporate agriculture. More information is available at farmstand.org.