An Owasco dairy farm previously cited for worker housing conditions is also being investigated by the state for violating clean water regulations.
In February, four adults and five children moved out of the workers’ house at Melrose Farm after a town of Owasco cease-and-desist order was issued to the farm’s owner, Joe Tidd, due to unsafe conditions at the living quarters. The farm was subsequently investigated by the Cayuga County Health Department and state Department of Environmental Conservation for numerous alleged violations.
A DEC spokesperson told The Citizen in May that the agency was investigating the farm “for potential violations of New York State Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) requirements,” and more recently the agency confirmed that it is “pursuing” the farm’s ownership regarding the matter.
According to the DEC’s website, a CAFO is “an animal feeding operation (farm) that meets certain animal size thresholds and that also confines animals for 45 days or more in any 12-month period in an area that does not produce vegetation.” The regulations are in place to “ensure proper management of nutrients while increasing water quality protection.”
The Citizen:
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