Tainted beef buried Friday

Recall impacts Grant County, Othello schools

COLUMBIA BASIN - Thousands of pounds of beef from Grant County schools were buried in an Ephrata landfill Friday, following the biggest beef recall in U.S. history.

It appears the schools brought about 8 tons of recalled beef to the landfill, according to the Grant County Health District.

The district provided Grant County schools instructions for disposing the beef after the recall was issued, according to Grant County Health District Environmental Health Specialist Jennifer Jessen.

At least 400 cases of beef were buried at the landfill, Jessen said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recalled 143 million pounds of beef after the Humane Society of the United States released undercover video showing slaughterhouse workers at the Chino-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. kicking and shoving sick and crippled cows and forcing them to stand with electric prods, forklifts and water hoses, according to the Associated Press.

Wayne Pacelle, the Humane Society's president and chief executive, said the video was filmed over a six-week period last fall and all the abuse happened with Department of Agriculture inspectors were away.

"The inspection system obviously has enormous gaps if these routine abuses could happen," he said. "The inspector would show up and if there were downed animals, the workers would try to get them up before the inspectors got there."

Wahluke School District Superintendent Gary Greene said the schools had approximately 2,800 pounds of the recalled beef in patty form and as beef crumbles.

"It's almost two full pallets of beef," Greene said.

Moses Lake School District Special Assistant to the Superintendent P.J. De Benedetti said the school district's supply of recalled beef was taken to the landfill. De Benedetti said the food service director was out of the office Monday, and so he was unsure how much beef was disposed.

Wilson Creek School District Superintendent Linda McKay said the district brought 210 pounds of beef to the landfill.

Quincy School District Superintendent Burton Dickerson said the district brought 82.5 cases of beef to the landfill Friday. He was unsure of the total weight of the product.

Othello School District Superintendent George Juarez said the school district disposed of 29 cases of beef on Friday. Juarez was unsure of the method of disposal or the weight of the product because the finance director, who has the information, was out of the office.

Ephrata School District Food Service Director Cynthia Witte said the district took 510 pounds of beef to the landfill. All of the meat was processed, as Witte does not purchase raw beef, she said.

"What we had were hamburger patties, and beef crumbles, and a product called Teriyaki Dippers," Witte said.

She said the school district did not have to change its menus because it still has beef from other suppliers.

"It's a real job to go in and change your menus and try and come up with something else," she said.

Jessen of the Grant County Health District said the state came out with guidelines for disposing of the beef. To be reimbursed for the disposal, the school districts had to follow specific directions, she said.

School districts with more than 50 cases of recalled beef had to take the beef to the landfill, she said. Schools with less than 50 cases could dispose of the beef on their own, but most opted to bring the beef to the landfill regardless, she said.

Royal School District, Grand Coulee School District and Coulee City School District chose to destroy the food themselves, Jessen said.

The schools were required to pour bleach on the product to discourage human consumption and advised not to place it in the Dumpster until the morning, when trash is picked up, so no one takes the food out of the garbage, she said.

Schools could throw only solid food into the Dumpster, since they are not allowed to pour liquids into the Dumpster, she said.

State Food Distribution Supervisor Skip Skinner said there were no reported illnesses associated with the beef.

He said animals which fail to stand are supposed to be held and inspected by a veterinarian from the Department of Agriculture. It was unclear whether the veterinarian was called each time an animal failed to stand, he said.

Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer stated he issued an investigation, which included the involvement of the Food Safety Inspection Service, the inspector general and the Agriculture Market Service.

"We suspended Hallmark as a supplier for the School Lunch Program and other federal nutrition programs immediately," Schafer noted. "This investigation is ongoing. It's continuing."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.