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CRPE Cases

Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment v. Tulare County: Getting the #1 Dairy County in the U.S. to Clean Up Its Act

Tulare County Superior Court

In 2000, residents of the Tulare County community of Allensworth asked the Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment to review the Program Environmental Impact Report for the Tulare County Confined Animal Facilities Plan. Tulare County is the biggest dairy county in the United States, with over 300,000 dairy cows. CRPE worked with communities in southern Tulare County, an area slated for future dairy development, throughout the administrative process. In 2001, after Board of Supervisors approved the Environmental Impact Report, CRPE challenged the County under the California Environmental Quality Act. In 2002, in a major victory for Tulare County residents, CRPE and the County settled the lawsuit with the County agreeing to prepare a Supplemental Program Environmental Impact Report dealing specifically with air and water impacts, including testing groundwater for contamination on scores of existing dairies. The Supplemental Program Environmental Impact Report has not yet been prepared. In the meantime, dairy development in Tulare County is at a virtual stand-still. CRPE continues to work with county residents to monitor Tulare County’s progress.