By LORI COPE | East Texas Edition

April 4, 2006 - More chapters of the Alan Ritchey Dairy saga have revealed a total of $160,000 in fines and a requirement to spend at least $100,000 in environmental projects, all ordered by the Environmental Protection Agency in March for the dairy’s past violations of the Clean Water Act.

The dairy operation is located just north of the Red River, where Fannin County, Texas, and Bryan County, Okla., meet at the river.

Four Consent Agreement and Final Orders were stamped “filed” by EPA’s regional hearing clerk in Dallas – one on March 10, and three on March 23. Each orders Alan Ritchey, Inc., of Yuba, Okla., owner of a facility that was a point source of discharge of pollutants to U.S. waters, to pay a civil penalty of $40,000 to “settle all matters relating in any way to the facts and circumstances set forth in the complaint.” 

The four civil penalities total $160,000, which are to be paid in installments. The first installment of $13,333.34 per order ($53,333.36 total) is to be paid within 30 days of the order filing. Then, two installment payments of $13,333.33 per order, plus interest accured on the unpaid balance (2 percent per annum) is to be paid annually on the anniversary date of the first installment.

These latest Consent Agreement and Final Orders address administrative complaints filed by EPA Region 6 (Dallas) against Ritchey on Dec. 19, 2003, two on Dec. 23, 2003, and Feb. 25, 2004. The four orders filed in March note EPA and Ritchey “agree that settlement of relevant matters without further litigation will save time and resources ... and the order is the most appropriate means of resolving such matters between” the agency and the dairy owner.

Besides the $160,000 in total civil penalty, the orders require Ritchey to implement a Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) that “shall not be less than $100,000” in total cost or expenditure.

The project, ordered to be complete by April 17, 2007, includes developing vegetative buffer areas along the Red River to filter any runoff. The buffer will be pecan trees and/or bermudagrass planted a minimum of 50 feet in total cumulative width. The order details the pecan trees are to be planted in two areas, totaling about 116 acres, along and adjacent to the Red River to assist in removal of nitrates from groundwater. Trees, such as loblolly pine, are to be planted on the north side of the dairy’s silage storage bunkers area and the west side of the calf barns, to act as an odor and visual barrier.

EPA spokesperson David Bary, on March 28, said a final order against Ritchey would likely be issued in April.

Ritchey’s dairy has been significantly scaled down since its heyday when it was “one of the largest milk producers in the world,” according to Alan Ritchey, Inc. website in 2003. In January 2005, about 4,500 head of milk cows were sold over a four-day event at the operation. The sale was not mandated by the federal or state agency but was Ritchey’s choice. Currently, the dairy has about 200 head of cattle on the site; which falls into the “under the 300 head” licensing requirements, according to a state agency spokesperson.

In early 2000, complaints from the dairy’s neighbors led to investigations by EPA, and the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry. Following the investigations, significant environmental violations were recorded. These violations have led to financial penalties and mandates to rectify the situation.

On March 23, Teena Gunter, an attorney with the Oklahoma Ag Department, noted the state agency is overseeing ongoing environmental testing at the dairy and making decisions based on test findings. Gunter said basically their actions with the dairy are “overall resolved.” She noted the dairy is operating “no where near its capacity” and estimated the reduction is 90 percent of its capacity.