The state of Oregon is asking a judge to step in to stop a rural Eugene horse boarding farm from adding to a “manure pile” that state officials say is “hundreds of thousands of cubic feet total in size” and likely leaching contaminated water into a nearby lake popular with swimmers and other water sports enthusiasts.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, the Oregon Department of Agriculture alleges that it’s “highly likely” that contaminates including E. coli and nitrates are being carried by rainwater from the massive stash at Lakeview Stables into a nearby ditch, which drains into the Fern Ridge Reservoir about one mile away. The reservoir, also known as Fern Ridge Lake, is a go-to spot for fishing, waterskiing, swimming, stand-up paddleboarding, windsurfing, sailing and birdwatching. The nearest access to the water is just 3.5 miles west of the city limits of Eugene.
The suit lists Carolyn Thom as the landowner and operator of Lakeview Stables, and claims Thom is in violation of state rules. Thom didn’t return calls seeking comment for this story.
Lakeview Stables has been adding horse manure, bedding and feeding material or other waste to the pile for at least the past seven years since state regulators first contacted the business, according to the lawsuit. The state allows farms to store and compost manure on site, but has rules that must be followed in order to avoid damaging water quality.
State officials allege that Lakeview Stables failed to install an impermeable underlayer or a cover, such as tarps, that would prevent contaminants from leaching into the groundwater or washing into nearby waterways.
The lawsuit describes the offending mass as a “manure pile,” but it looks more like a sprawling, slightly elevated mound that is partially covered in grass. It appears to have been flattened by farm machinery in photos included in state investigative files.
According to the lawsuit, the state started investigating Lakeview Stables in 2016 after receiving a complaint. The state says it directed the owner to remove the copious waste that had accumulated. But by 2019 the mound grew from an estimated 154,000 cubic feet to 200,000 cubic feet. From there, state officials say Lakeview Stables has continued to add to it.
It’s difficult to quantify the sheer size to the average person not familiar with equine husbandry. But according to the Department of Agriculture, a 1,000-pound horse can produce 50 pounds of manure a day or nine tons in a year. That’s equivalent to about six pickup truck loads.
The East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District quantifies that at about 350 cubic feet a year. So a 200,000-cubic-foot pile would take one horse about 570 years to produce — assuming that the manure never decomposed.
Lakeview Stables advertises a “family friendly environment” for horse boarding, training and riding on its trail in a bucolic landscape. Its website states it takes “great pride in care” — and that “stalls, fences and grounds are well maintained for the safety of our boarders and well-being of our horses.”
The state is asking a judge to intervene at Lakeview Stables because it says the horse boarding business failed to comply with two past “Plans of Correction” laid out by the state. The latest plan in 2021 called for Thom to haul 20% of the pile off site each year until it was completely gone by 2025.
Thom has been fined three times, including one penalty that was more than $6,000.
State officials are concerned about the potential harm to water quality at the Fern Ridge Reservoir and the waters of the Long Tom and Willamette rivers. The reservoir is formed by a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dam along the Long Tom, which ultimately flows into the Willamette.
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