Dee Creek agrees to pay fine in E. coli outbreak, but denies wrongdoing
Tuesday, June 12, 2007 6:48 AM PDT
By Barbara LaBoe
Printable version
E-mail this articleWithout admitting fault, the owners of a Woodland dairy that caused a 2005 E. coli outbreak announced Monday that they'd pay a state fine to end the matter.
The decision canceled the state administrative hearing scheduled to begin this morning in Vancouver. Instead, Anita and Mike Puckett were in Vancouver on Monday determining who to pay the $8,000 fine to, their daughter Summer Steenbarger said late Monday afternoon. Steenbarger and her husband, Michael, help run the dairy, located in Cowlitz County on Little Kalama River Road.
The family wants to put the whole matter behind them, but still maintain they did nothing wrong, she added.
"To be perfectly clear, we deny we violated Washington law in operating our cow share raw milk dairy in 2005," Steenbarger read from a prepared statement in a telephone interview. "We believe that this enforcement action by the (Washington State Department of Agriculture) is seriously objectionable as overreaching in an area WSDA had no authority and as a violation of the rights of Washington citizens.
"We are paying the sum assessed by WSDA in order to avoid the continuing expense," Steenbarger read, declining to answer any questions about the matter.
The Pucketts were fined $8,000 in March 2006 in connection with the 2005 E. coli investigation concerning Dee Creek's raw cow milk. The fine isn't for the E. coli outbreak, just violations uncovered during that investigation.
The Pucketts appealed that fine last summer and today's hearing was to argue their case before an administrative law judge. Late Monday they notified the state they were withdrawing the appeal.
Included in the violations was distributing raw, or unpasteurized, milk without the proper state license and inspections.
Raw milk can be sold legally in Washington, but only with a state license and regular inspections. According to state officials, the Pucketts' farm had numerous health and hygiene violations in 2005 and could not have come close to passing an inspection.
The Pucketts claim their practice of selling "shares" of their cows and then giving the "co-owners" milk isn't technically selling. The state didn't agree, notifying the Pucketts in August 2005 that they were breaking the law because any exchange of money for milk constitutes a sale.
Since the outbreak the Legislature has revamped laws to eliminate any doubt that cow share programs require a license. The new law also gives state investigators greater access to suspected violators. In 2005, state officials were only able to enter the Pucketts' farm after people fell ill even though officials suspected raw milk was being sold illegally months before the outbreak.
Raw milk advocates claim heating milk to remove bacteria also leaches out vital nutrients. County, state and national health officials, though say drinking raw milk is risky because it may contain E. coli, salmonella and listeria.
State officials couldn't verify if the Pucketts' fine had been paid late Monday but said once it is, the matter is effectively resolved. The only thing remaining to be done is for the state to issue a final order stating what happened in the case, said Jason Kelly, as a spokesman for the state Department of Agriculture.
Last month, the dairy received a state license to legally sell raw goat's milk --- after making substantial changes to meet state standards. The dairy does not have permission to sell raw cow's milk because its milking parlor isn't large enough, Kelly said.
The December 2005 outbreak sickened 18 people and landed five children in the hospital. Two of those children were on life-support before recovering enough to be sent home.
Some of the families hired lawyers to pursue civil lawsuits against the dairy. No cases have been filed, though, and one lawyer last week hinted that the matter soon will be settled without a lawsuit.
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