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DateNameCompanyComment
 Lisa Brisley To Whom It May Concern, Please deny any permits or requests from the new mega-dairy farm near Boardman, Oregon. Mega-dairy farms pose unacceptable pollution risks to the air, water, and soil. "They produce high amounts of methane and nitrates from cow slurry, nitrogen pollution from fertilizer used for animal feed and carbon emissions from land use and production." Mega-dairy farms rely on inhumane treatment of dairy cows and their offspring and are used as milking machines by standing for long hours on concrete slabs, inhumanely confined to the indoors with no access to outdoor fields or pastures, and succumb to illnesses and diseases due to deplorable conditions in which they are forced to endure. Once the cows are of no use for their dairy production, they are slaughtered for their meat and by-products. Mega-dairy farms are inhumane and are economically and environmentally destructive and unsustainable. Please say "no" to any permits or requests from this or any mega-dairy farm. Thank you, Lisa Brisley
 Lisa Brisley  
 Maggie Salter This proposed use of water is not in the public interest because it would allow large amounts of water to be taken from a limited groundwater resource. It also would enable construction of an industrial scale dairy that would pollute the surrounding air and water with gas and waste from the animals. These operations have a huge effect on the environment due to emissions of greenhouse gases like methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide. If the effect on climate change isn't enough to show that we don't need other one of these awful industries then consider what the animals who are exploited for this industry go through. The dairy cows are artificially impregnated and have been manipulated so that they lactate 12x more than they normally should which is completely unnatural and unhealthy for the cow. Plus they have their babies ripped away from them hours after they give birth and just like humans they form bonds and connections with their children. The baby cows if female will have to endure the same life long process their mothers did and if they are male they are sent to veal farms where they are slaughtered a few months later. Thank you for considering our comments!
 Ivan MaluskiFriends of Family FarmersFriends of Family Farmers represents small and mid-sized family farms across Oregon. We are concerned about the steady loss of smaller dairy farms in Oregon in recent decades and the harmful impact this has had across rural parts of the state. We believe this to be connected to a growing number of exceedingly large dairy operations in Oregon and the US, which have contributed to an oversupply of milk products and exceedingly low prices - economic conditions that have helped push smaller dairy farms out of business. It is our view that the loss of small and mid-sized farms in Oregon is not in the public interest. If this new use of water is approved, it could further accelerate the loss of smaller and mid-sized dairy farms in Oregon, which numbered over 1100 in 2002 and a little over 200 today. To our knowledge, there has been no economic impact study conducted on this project to determine the potential impact on smaller and mid-sized dairy farms in Oregon. However, shortly after a similar sized dairy located in Morrow County in the early 2000s, according the Oregon Employment Department, Oregon lost nearly half of its dairy farms (mostly small and mid sized) in just five years, as an average of nine dairy farms closed each month between 2002 and 2007. Because of this history, we urge you to deny this proposed use of water (Application LL 1690) because it is not in the public interest. Additionally, this proposed use of water could contribute to further degradation of groundwater in the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area, impacting neighboring farms and rural communities. At this time, the operation has not yet had its animal waste management plan or National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit approved by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality or the Oregon Department of Agriculture. Granting a new water right before the NPDES permit and animal waste management plan have been approved would be contrary to the public interest. Even if these permits are ultimately granted, we are concerned that further groundwater degradation will likely result if this water right is granted. This would not be in the public interest. Thank you for your consideration.
 Stephanie ParentCenter for Biological DiversityThis application should be denied for the reasons stated in the comments submitted separately by email from eight groups including the Center for Biological Diversity, which hereby are incorporated by reference. In particular, the proposed use is not in the public interest and does not otherwise qualify for a limited license. In addition, the Department does not have substantial evidence to say water is available. Thank you for your attention to this important issue.
 Tarah HeinzenFood & Water WatchThis application should be denied for the reasons stated in the comments submitted separately by Water Watch of Oregon via email, on behalf of eight groups including Food & Water Watch, which I hereby incorporate by reference. The proposed use would be detrimental to the public interest for several reasons described in those comments, and does not qualify as fixed in duration. There are also strong indications that the use would injure existing water rights. Moreover, the Department does not have substantial evidence to say water is available, because it cannot determine if the aquifer is over-appropriated. Thank you for considering these comments.
 Lauren GoldbergColumbia RiverkeeperThis application should be denied for the reasons stated in the comments submitted separately by email from eight groups including Columbia Riverkeeper (Riverkeeper). Riverkeeper incorporates by reference comments filed by WaterWatch of Oregon on behalf of eight organizations, including Riverkeeper (hereafter "Coalition Comments"). Riverkeeper is a non-profit organization representing over 12,000 members who live, work, and recreate along the Columbia River and its tributaries in Oregon and Washington, including Morrow County, Oregon. As the Coalition Comments describe in detail, the proposed use does not qualify as short term or fixed in duration, would result in limited licenses of more than five years for the same use and would injure existing water rights. Moreover, the Department does not have substantial evidence to say water is available. For the reasons explained in the Coalition Comments, Columbia Riverkeeper urges OWRD to deny Application LL 1690.
 nora weisbordPapa murphys This proposed use of water is not in the public interest because it would allow large amounts of water to be taken from a limited groundwater resource. It also would enable construction of an industrial scale dairy that would pollute the surrounding air and water with gas and waste from the animals. Finally, dairies of this scale are inhumane because they keep the cows in highly confined conditions, rarely if ever let them outside to graze, deny them contact with their offspring, and give them only very short lives. Thank you for considering these comments.
 Lori Smith This proposed use of water is not in the public interest because it would allow large amounts of water to be taken from a limited groundwater resource. It also would enable construction of an industrial scale dairy that would pollute the surrounding air and water with gas and waste from the animals. Finally, dairies of this scale are inhumane because they keep the cows in highly confined conditions, rarely if ever let them outside to graze, deny them contact with their offspring, and give them only very short lives. This proposed industrial scale dairy is bad for people, animals, and the planet. Thank you for considering these comments.
 Amy van SaunCenter for Food SafetyThis application should be denied for the reasons stated in the comments submitted separately by email from eight groups including Center for Food Safety, which hereby are incorporated by reference. In particular, the proposed use will impair the public interest because it will support the permanent installation of an industrial-scale mega-dairy that will generate extremely large amounts of waste in an existing Groundwater Management Area (GWMA). The Lower Umatilla Basin GWMA was designated in 1990 due to groundwater contamination by high levels of nitrates, and levels remain high today. One major cause of this impairment is existing concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), which concentrate large amounts of untreated animal waste in one place, where it seeps from holding "lagoons" into groundwater, and is spread on surrounding fields. If waste is applied at higher than agronomic rates, it will seep from application fields below the root zone and into groundwater. The proposed use would support an additional mega-dairy in the same GWMA, adding 30,000 head to the existing 70,000 head at Threemile Canyon CAFO, and generating the same amount of waste as a city the size of Portland. Many Oregonians rely on drinking water from groundwater sources, and increasing the presence of CAFOs in an already impaired area is emphatically not in the public interest. Thank you for considering these comments.
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