PUEBLO — Urban farmer Perdita Butler was ready to harvest her bok choy and fresh, crunchy kohlrabi outside her 1940s stucco home in Pueblo. It was early spring, and the nymph grasshoppers…
Tag: Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment
Colorado expands testing for bird flu at dairy farms as state hits 30 cases in 30 days
The Colorado Department of Agriculture this week stepped up efforts to stop a runaway outbreak of bird flu cases on dairy farms by issuing an order requiring testing for the virus on…
Extreme heat in Colorado may have contributed to an extraordinary outbreak of bird flu in people
The outdoor temperature flirted with 100 degrees and heat advisories blanketed the region earlier this month as workers arrived at a commercial poultry operation in Weld County to start killing chickens. Of…
Colorado identifies three new human cases of bird flu and more people are symptomatic
Three poultry workers tested positive for bird flu and more who showed symptoms of infection are being tested, state health officials announced Friday evening. The outbreak of human cases, if confirmed, is…
Colorado health officials identify another human case of bird flu in the state
Colorado health officials on Wednesday announced that a dairy worker in northeastern Colorado contracted bird flu after having close contact with sick cattle. The worker, an adult man, had a mild eye…
How environmentalists are trying to force Colorado to get tough on factory farms
Colorado environmental groups one year ago won an administrative law judge’s ruling that state water quality regulators were failing to monitor potential contamination from mountains of manure at so-called “factory farms.” So…
Rural Colorado’s “cowboy up” culture has led to high suicide rates. How can the state improve mental health in agriculture?
San Luis Valley cattle rancher George Whitten was halfway through a mental health workshop when he let himself tally up a figure he had never wanted to know — the number of…
EPA blocks another Colorado oil and gas air pollution permit, demands changes
The Environmental Protection Agency has demanded Colorado rewrite another air pollution permit for an oil and gas operator in Weld County, with the environmental group that brought the objection saying it’s another…
Colorado hits Suncor with landmark $10.5 million settlement and tougher monitors for air pollution
Colorado issued a $10.5 million penalty on the Suncor refinery in Commerce City over three years of air pollution violations, calling it the largest-ever action against a single facility, and also settled…
Colorado considers allowing sales of raw milk in latest “food freedom” legislation
Coloradans could buy raw milk at farms, farmers markets and roadside stands — but not grocery stores — under legislation aimed at giving consumers the power to choose their own food. The…