How a California dairy methane project threatens residents’ air and water
The stench of manure and urine often hangs in the air of Pixley, a small community of 4,000 in the southern San Joaquin Valley. Inside a community center, a half dozen women describe what it’s like to be surrounded by tens of thousands of dairy cows at the large farms that dominate the region. Besides the smell, a mix of pollutants from livestock waste is filling the air and water and may be having severe impacts on their health. They blame growing dairy farms. Experts say California climate policies encourage larger herd sizes. While state-wide data aren’t available until next year, there’s anecdotal evidence that some farms are getting bigger: A couple miles from the community center, Four J Farms has seen its herd of cows increase from 1,800 to 3,500 in five years. It’s one of more than 130 dairies across the state that have essentially been transformed into biogas factories.