Dairy farmer addresses groundwater contamination

A Clovis dairy farmer who has been fighting the federal government for more than two years on groundwater contamination addressed the matter Friday.

The News was invited to a virtual press conference with Highland Dairy owner Art Schaap and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M.

Cannon Air Force Base in 2018 disclosed the presence of PFAS and PFOA in a plume surrounding the base, with the root cause firefighting foams used by its fire department.

The Environmental Protection Agency has no federal standard for drinking water, but Leger Fernández said the chemicals are in concentrations more than 257 times the EPA advisory of 70 parts per trillion.

Highland has not been allowed to sell its cows or the milk it produces since the disclosure of the chemicals. To keep the dairy afloat, the U.S. Department of Agriculture provided monthly payments to Highland under the Dairy Indemnity Payment Program. Those payments, however, stopped in December.

The congresswoman said she discussed the matter with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and “he recognizes the need to buy the cows.” The government is working through a regulatory process to get this done.

She has also talked with the Secretary of the U.S. Air Force about the matter.

Schaap said the Air Force needs to take on the task of cleaning the water, and noted the total damage to the dairy and his family are still unknown.

“We have only known about this for three years, but we have been exposed for over 20 years,” Schaap said.” Milk production has declined and my family and employees have been exposed and we don’t know the outcome.”

He said he has owned the farm near the base for more than 30 years.

A member of the press asked what will happen to the dairy’s nearly 4,000 cows. Schaap said “nothing is happening now.” He said the cows are euthanized as humanely as possible when they need to be “put out,” and their bodies are disposed to prevent the chemicals in them from being put back into the groundwater.

“We believe it is important to bring attention to this matter,” the congresswoman said in conclusion.

The Public Affairs Office at Cannon Air Force Base provided The News with the following comment on Friday: “Cannon Air Force Base strives to remain transparent by keeping our community informed of on-going efforts that address PFOS and PFOA. Health and safety is our top concern as PFOS and PFOA is an issue that affects us all. CAFB shares the same desire of our community to protect our drinking water resources. As more data becomes available, we will continue working with our partners to address specific issues and implement our PFOS and PFOA programs. We will continue hosting quarterly public meetings to share ongoing findings and mitigation efforts.”