Rancher, 85, faces sentencing in water pollution case

Scappoose, Ore., rancher William Holdner describes himself as a conservationist with a love of wildlife. "I'm an environmentalist, going back to when I was born," Holdner, 85, said in an interview March 5. "Other than spot spraying for tansy ragwort, I never use chemicals. I use no insecticides or chemical fertilizers." But last month Holdner, who runs a beef-cattle operation, was found guilty of two Class B felonies for polluting waters of the state and 25 misdemeanor counts. Columbia County Circuit Court on March 6 put off sentencing to give Holdner a chance to come into compliance with state law, according to Ray Jaindl, administrator of the Oregon Department of Agriculture's natural resources division, who was at the sentencing. Holdner refused to obtain a confined animal feeding operation permit from the state despite attempts by state officials to convince him. Holdner said several conditions of the permit were unworkable, including one that prevented him from capturing runoff during storms and applying it to a nearby field. The permit, in essence, would have forced him to funnel the runoff into the creeks, he said. The ODA's Jaindl said just the opposite is true. By spraying the runoff onto fields, Jaindl said, Holdner was saturating fields during storms and contaminated runoff was escaping into the Mid Creek and South Scappoose Creek, which border Holdner's Dutch Canyon facility...more