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Humane Society says manure piles endangering Central Valley water
FRENCH CAMP July 28, 2009 12:04am 
• Files complaint with Water Quality Control Board • Says egg farm near French Camp poses problems The Humane Society of the United States has filed a petition with the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board seeking an investigation of a major egg farm’s practice of dumping manure on the ground next to a ditch that drains directly to the San Joaquin River.
The waste is from the more than 700,000 hens housed at the French Camp facility operated by Olivera Egg Ranch Inc.
The petition alleges that manure from the facility may contaminate the local residential water supply, which may have happened in recent weeks. It also says that Olivera recently used a backhoe to dig out tons of wet and solid manure from its 16-acre manure cesspool and then dumped it within feet of a ditch connecting to the San Joaquin River.
Local residents and the HSUS filed suit against the facility in October 2008 over the smells from the operation as well as what the lawsuit contended was exposure to toxic pollutants, including ammonia, in violation of federal and state environmental law.
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