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PA CALIFORNIA DAIRY FARMER SENTENCED FOR CLEAN WATER VIOLATIONS
Release Date: 03/20/98
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FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 1998
CALIFORNIA DAIRY FARMER SENTENCED FOR CLEAN WATER VIOLATIONS
On March 13, Pete Hettinga, managing partner of the 3H Dairy Farm in Oakdale, Calif., pleaded guilty and was sentenced for 10 violations of the Clean Water Act in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California in Fresno. The court ordered Hettinga to spend 90 days in jail, serve a 90-day period of home confinement, pay a fine of $100,000, agree to make at least $101,000 in improvements to his farm and serve four years probation. This is the first time an operator of a concentrated animal feeding operation has been sentenced to serve jail time for water pollution in California. In his plea, the defendant admitted to negligently discharging waste-water polluted with cow urine, feces and wash water into waterways that flow into the Tuolumne River and Sacramento Delta. The discharge of concentrated organic wastes can lead to algae blooms and fish kills. This case was investigated by members of the Dairy Waste Enforcement Task Force which includes EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, EPA’s Region 9 Office, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the California Department of Fish and Game and the California Regional Water Control Board.
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