DSHW-2018-003537 - 0901a068807f6dba

PO Box 224
Fielding, UT 84311-0224
435 452-1971
April 17, 2018 MI-W-2018-003537
Utah Division of Waste Management and Radiation Control
Attn: Allan Moore
PO Box 144880
Salt Lake City, UT 84114-4880
Dear Mr. Moore:
I have been told today that Todd Lish/Freedom Farms has received a permit from your agency
to begin dumping dairy waste on a piece of property he is purchasing, beginning as early as
Thursday, April 19, 2018. I understand that he will be receiving waste from all over, even from
out of state, under a "non-typical farming" permit I think the name of the permit is a portender of
problems. We are the adjoining property owners and live on said piece of property. To say it
would negatively impact our property and us would be an understatement.
How could you grant a permit and not ask adjoining property owners as to their impact and
input? Who do you think you represent? What environmental impact study did you run? I think
your permitting process could be best summed up with the question, would you want this being
done on the adjoining property wherever it is that you live? Any informed, sane person would
say no. This should only be permitted where informed people have said yes to have this as their
neighbor. With regard to this lack of process and that you have as part of your agency's name
Radiation Control makes me even more concerned about your being charged with protecting
the public.
Approximately 12 years ago when we moved onto our purchased property, and in conjunction
with our proving up our well (for which neighbor approval had to be acquired) for drinking water,
we were told by both the state of Utah and Box Elder County that we would need to get an
easement limiting the adjoining property owner's use of the land in a way that would likely
contaminate our well (feedlot, chemical plant. etc , despite there being little likelihood at the time
that would ever come to pass). It needed to specify an offset, distance wise, to satisfy the
governing bodies. Despite the reluctance of the adjoining property owner to limit the use of their
property within that specified distance of our well head that was too close to our own property
line to afford that offset distance, we were successful in getting that restriction and recorded it
with the county and were granted permission to have our well located where water availability
dictated. Our well/water table is only 50 feet deep that our well draws from. I'm sure you know
that especially here in Utah. you drill where the water is. Now we understand that it is a
government body that is permitting the violation of that required buffer zone by virtue of the
quantity of waste being dumped? Incredible! If you did checking you'd know these things; if you
were doing your job of protecting the people and the environment.
To say this dairy waste dump will impact the ecosystem of this area is an understatement. It will
impact air quality. It will impact soil organisms It will impact groundwater It will impact water
quality in the nearby Bear River and the Willard Bay Reservoir which also holds the Bear River
Migratory Bird Refuge and already struggles from ground runoff from farming, industrial, and
residential use. It is a balancing act already as far as use is concerned and requiring measures
to be taken to limit pesticide, herbicide, fertilizer, parking lot/road runoff impacts and landfill
impacts on our water quality. It will develop a very unpleasant odor as it rots in the field that will
not dissipate since it will be continually added to. The rot and smell will attract insects and
rodents, and birds, in inordinate numbers, since this is a flyway and has the bird refuge so
nearby. They will be impacted. They will be impacted by the contaminants of the dairy waste,
chemicals used in the washing of facilities etc. I should be preaching to the choir here. The fact
that other places are willing to pay to dump and to pay to truck the waste here screams at how
much of a problem this can be, Now, I am to understand we have the luxury of not only being
able to deal with our own negative use impacts, but we can take on California's waste disposal
problems too... for a fee? I think this is really what this is all about...$$$$
Which brings me to: What you, and people like Todd Lish often understand. Money. I
understand a good neighbor talked to Patrick Sheehan yesterday about this problem and
stopping it from happening and asked with passion, "What do we need to do, get an attorney?"
Of course he could not offer advice. However, if that is what course you choose, that is what we
can do. We can sue your agency, Todd Lish, and any and all of those that "dump on us" for
damages done to us. (Hey' lf it works for the Attorney General Sean Reyes to sue over the
EPA's negligence in the mine spill, then it works for us suing state agencies who issue permits
that carry negative impacts ) Of course, that will not restore us to what we were before. If you
had ever told me I would wind up neighbors with a toxic waste dump I would have told you you
were crazy, but, here we are.
Regarding Todd C. Lish, who you have aligned yourself with by granting him a permit to do this,
and what kind of responsible person of the community he is: It is a public record that he has
filed bankruptcy. He structures his businesses such that he enjoys a corporate shield of
protection, from liens, judgments, assessments for business taxes, both state and federal,
withholding taxes, fraud investigations, etc. It is a public record, once again, if the property in
question ever had any payments made on it, was in foreclosure and scheduled for auction, ever
had any property taxes due and unpaid on it while supposedly being purchased by his LLC, etc.
Your practicing due diligence with regard to these things would expose who Todd Lish is and
how he lives with regard to social and community responsibility. As I said with regard to you, I
am certain Todd Lish would not choose to live next to this dumping ground.
Please see what follows as support for not dismissing me as an irate, overreacting whacko
neighbor with just a lot of opinions and little facts. I am sure that you are already aware of these
things as referenced to my "preaching to the choir" statement. However, those I will send copies
of this letter to (local, state, and federal representatives, and authorities. the Bear River
Migratory Bird Refuge. and perhaps a judge if needed for a stay ...and of course media outlets)
may not be as aware, and may require at least the beginning of an education in this. Of course,
more can follow if needed. I will hold off sending copies of this letter to the aforementioned
representatives, authorities, etc. until I have either heard from you or your agency, or until they
start dumping, whichever occurs first.
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It is all downhill to the Bear River less than a mile away. This is an excerpt from the article: Acid
whey cannot be dumped near any bodies of water because it depletes water of oxygen,
destroying the marine environment. and it also cannot be disposed of in a typical landfill
because it would leach into the soil.
Big Fat Greek Yogurt Acid Whey Disposal in New York
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htlps Pwww researchgate netipub;icationi3013418 pact of Dairy Effluent on Environme
nt-t. Review
The fact this is from India does not mean it is irrelevant It means this was just a cursory search
by me Here is an excerpt: Poorly treated wastewater with high level of pollutants caused by
poor design, operation or treatment systems creates major environmental problems when
discharged to the surface land or water. Various operations in a dairy industry may include
pasteurization, cream, cheese, milk powder, etc The dairy industry handles large volumes of
milk and the major waste material from processing is the water. The water removed from the
milk can contain considerable amounts of organic milk products and minerals In addition
cleaning of plant, results in caustic wastewater. This review article discusses the impact of
wastewater released in the environment, methods to minimize the amount of both the organic
and inorganic material in the wastewater and waste water treatment
Impad of Dairy Effluent on Environment—A Review (PDF
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Impact of Dairy Effluent on Environment—A. . (PDF Download Available). Available from:
https!/www researchgate net/publication/301341877 Impact of Dairy Effluent on Environme
pt-A _Review [accessed Apr 17 2018].
lAttyllw_wv_vsheesemakiag cpri:Opheythynl Excerpt follows:
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As you can see above from the whey components, a lot of milk sugars go into the water supply and
this milk sugar can be a BIG problem for septic systems and sewage disposal systems, as well as
the entire watershed. The lactose will be consumed by bacteria, changing the acidity and
altering life in the stream. Plus, the nutrients included in the whey disposal will increase the
biological activity and can increase the 'BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand) significantly. In large
commercial operations, this can be serious enough to strip the oxygen for other animals
creating serious die-off or dead watersheds.
This is why it is illegal for large corporations to dump whey into the system without treating it first for
these.
Please don't make me go to a court to get a stay on this dumping. Please don't make me go to
a court in pursuit of damages regarding this dumping. Issue your own stay. Let the property be
continued to be used for typical farming as it has for hundreds of years, as opposed to non-
typical farming. This is not a case of l moved to within a mile of an airport and am now
complaining about noise pollution At this point your agency is endorsing this poHution moving to
me. Turn this aside to a place more appropriate and with less impact. Your timely response is
expected, time being of the essence here Contact information is included herein.
§eriously,
Bryan M. Phillips