Yes, cows weigh more, eat more, defecate and urinate more than people. But they do not use toilet paper, feminine hygiene products or wear disposable diapers. They do not even take up space in a cemetery when they die. When two out of the five members of the planning commission and two out of five members of the Board of Supervisors have direct economic ties to Boswell, you know this is a corporation with undue influence. A pump pushes the liquid through a screen, allowing solid manure to fall into a stack.
Liquid waste is piped into lagoons.
The vast ponds, sealed to protect groundwater, hold millions of gallons of wastewater. From there, wastewater is blended with fresh water and funneled to crops later harvested and fed to the herd. In a final bit of recycling, cows munch on commodities such as almond hulls, citrus pulp and bakery leftovers that otherwise would pile up in landfills. Yet the recycling analogy bounces off Cole, who can't see past tons of manure and waste. He conjures the spectre of the Chino basin in Southern California, where development has cornered dairies onto small patches of land while salt and nitrates have wandered into waterways.