evaluation – Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Community

The Yakima Valley is a large agricultural area where there are multiple potential sources of nitrate in groundwater. Potential sources are intermingled, i.e., homes with septic systems are on the same properties as the dairies or adjacent to farms and/or dairies. In 2012, Region 10 of the US Environmental Protection Agency undertook a study to source track and identify nitrogen sources in the Yakima River Basin as part of an enforcement effort focusing on dairies. EPA position was that the targeted dairies did not properly apply nutrients to land application fields at agronomic rates, resulting in groundwater contamination. The study area is underlain by 3 aquifers, a shallow perched aquifer likely related to irrigation return flows, an alluvial aquifer and an underlying basalt aquifer. The three aquifers are hydrologically connected either through natural pathways or through wells completed into more than one aquifer. Because none of the potential sources are isolated, source tracking requires an in-depth knowledge of aquifer properties such as aquifer thickness, groundwater flow direction, hydraulic conductivity, and vertical leakance in addition to understanding localized effects of ditches, drains and production wells on groundwater flow. EPA focused on groundwater chemistry, assuming that indicators such as pesticides and other trace organic compounds would tie the groundwater nitrate to a specific source. EPA’s study failed to yield clear indicators pointing to specific sources and did not collect hydrologic data for its 2012 report to gain a detailed understanding of aquifer properties. This presentation will address how to accurately characterize the hydrogeology below dairy production areas and land application fields, and how to proactively manage nutrients to protect dairies from unsubstantiated enforcement actions

Purpose

Glorieta Geoscience, Inc. (GGI) was contracted by the Washington State Diary federation and Dairy Producers of New Mexico to conduct a technical evaluation of three reports prepared by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 10 (EPA) to identify sources of nitrate in the Yakima Valley.

What did we do?

arial photo We conducted a scientific peer review of EPA’s project design, methodologies, compliance with EPA’s own Quality Assurance Project Plan/Quality Control procedures, evaluated the overall study design/site selection as described in the three (3) reports, addressed specific data collection concerns and analyzed the results and conclusions drawn from the data as described in the main body of the Report to determine if EPA’s methodology and conclusions were supported by data. We analyzed the overall study design, hydrogeological characterizations, well completions, sample collection (green water, soils and ground water), geochemistry, stable isotopic and organic compound analyses and EPA’s conclusions from these efforts.

What have we learned?

EPA did not achieve their objectives because the aquifer properties such as groundwater flow direction were not evaluated, not all potential sources at each study site were evaluated and mapped and trace organic compound analyses did not yield reliable data or were inconclusive. As a consequence, EPA did not produce a study with reproducible results that supports its conclusions that specific sources of nitrate in domestic wells the Yakima Valley can be identified.

We learned that EPA does not follow their own QAPP and Quality Assurance protocols and that there was significant lack of supporting technical information for EPA to arrive at the conclusions presented in the report.

Author

Jay Lazarus, Glorieta Geosciences lazarus@glorietageo.com

The authors are solely responsible for the content of these proceedings. The technical information does not necessarily reflect the official position of the sponsoring agencies or institutions represented by planning committee members, and inclusion and distribution herein does not constitute an endorsement of views expressed by the same. Printed materials included herein are not refereed publications. Citations should appear as follows. EXAMPLE: Authors. 2015. Title of presentation. Waste to Worth: Spreading Science and Solutions. Seattle, WA. March 31-April 3, 2015. URL of this page. Accessed on: today’s date.

Why Is Smell and Odor Important to Animal Agriculture?

Smell is perhaps the least understood of our five senses. Yet, the human perception of odor may mean the difference between war and peace for a livestock farmer and his neighbors. Because the science of smells is complex, there is a tendency to run straight for the organic chemistry book when we try to describe farmstead odors. This approach goes right over the heads of most people. There must be a better way to communicate odors to diverse audiences. This workshop can be utilized by teachers or extension staff to teach about communication of a topic that is frequently encountered by farmers, ag professionals, and others. To see the presentation slides, scroll to the bottom of the page.

Learning Objectives

This two hour workshop will explain how to use an innovative visual technique to describe farmstead odors to general audiences without resorting to chemical jargon. The visualization technique based on shapes and colors was developed at Oklahoma State University in the mid 1990s, and has been used to talk about odors with many diverse audiences. The method demonstrates that odors have “structure”, and can be measured using the four concepts: character, concentration, intensity, and persistence.

Students will also participate in a mock laboratory exercise to demonstrate how odor intensity and pleasantness are measured. Results of the exercise will be analyzed in “real time”. Further analyses of previous exercise runs will be compared and contrasted to the workshop results. This laboratory has been presented to over 250 college freshmen and their results are presented in this recording.

Author

Douglas W. Hamilton, Associate Professor and Extension Waste Management Specialist, Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service dhamilt@okstate.edu

Doug Hamilton is an associate professor of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering at Oklahoma State University. He has three degrees in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Arkansas, Iowa State University, and Penn State University. His sense of smell remains keen despite the fact he has worked with livestock manure for nearly 34 years.

For More Information

The authors are solely responsible for the content of these proceedings. The technical information does not necessarily reflect the official position of the sponsoring agencies or institutions represented by planning committee members, and inclusion and distribution herein does not constitute an endorsement of views expressed by the same. Printed materials included herein are not refereed publications. Citations should appear as follows. EXAMPLE: Authors. 2013. Title of presentation. Waste to Worth: Spreading Science and Solutions. Denver, CO. April 1-5, 2013. URL of this page. Accessed on: today’s date.