The owners of Dee Creek Farm, who operated a cow share program that last December was the source of an E. coli outbreak that sickened 18 people in Washington and Oregon in December of 2005, say they will begin selling raw milk again this summer.
Dee Creek Farm faces an $8,000 fine from the Washington Department of Agriculture for selling raw milk without a license, but the farm is appealing the fine, reports The Daily News. Dee Creek Farm owners Anita and Michael Puckett will argue their case in a March administrative hearing run by the state Department of Agriculture.
The Pucketts claim they didn’t violate state milk production and processing laws and shouldn’t have to pay the $8,000 fine assessed in March. The fine is not for the E. coli outbreak itself, but for violations uncovered while officials were investigating the outbreak and its cause.
DNA tests tied milk from the dairy to the bacteria that made 18 people sick in Washington and Oregon; including three children who were in critical condition.