Magic Valley Dairy Eyed After Residents Discover Tainted Water

SHOSHONE, Idaho (AP) — State officials are investigating claims that a south-central Idaho dairy pumped manure into a canal and tests are being conducted on water coming from faucets in nearby homes where residents are complaining the water is discolored and has a bad odor.

Lynn Harmon of the Big Wood Canal Company in Shoshone tells The Times-News in a story on Saturday that 4 Bros. Dairy intentionally pumped material from the 10,000-cow dairy into the canal. The South Central Public Health Department on Wednesday ordered homes within a 20-mile radius of the dairy to boil water.

Dairy owner Andrew Fitzgerald didn't return a call from the newspaper. The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, Idaho State Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency are investigating.