FBI says deaths of cows likely an accident

By Nick Perry
Seattle Times staff reporter

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Three weeks of federal investigation — including an FBI raid of an Algona man's home — appear to have ended, narrowed to a canister of toxic material that was stored above where rancher John Koopman feeds his cattle. The substance apparently corroded through the container and dripped onto the cows, according to the FBI.

"It's starting to look like there was no crime, that no crime was committed," at least as far as the FBI is concerned, FBI spokeswoman Robbie Burroughs said yesterday. "It appears to be an inadvertent, accidental thing. We are about to close the case."

When rancher John Koopman called authorities three weeks ago to report that a reddish compound was found splashed on 10 of his herd of 340 cows, it elicited a quick response from federal agencies and the media. Several of the cows developed welts and three later died.

"It's been real traumatic; my life has just been turned upside down," Koopman said yesterday. "The media blew this thing up. The feds were just doing their job."

Koopman said the FBI raid on the house of the Algona man, who was a friend, was the worst part of the ordeal. The 60-year-old Algona man was once convicted of improperly storing hazardous materials, including chromium.

"That's the toughest thing I've ever been through in my life," Koopman said.

Scientists from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined the substance was a strong, oxidizing chromium compound. Koopman yesterday wouldn't say why he was keeping it or why the leak wasn't noticed.

Chromium compounds are used in chrome plating, paints, leather tanning and steel production.

Burroughs said the final part of the FBI's investigation will involve the Environmental Protection Agency, which will check the container's contents against the substance found on the cows. Test results should be back this week, she said. The substances appear to be similar, she added.

She said she didn't know why it took three weeks to trace the poison to the container on the farm.
 
At this point, the FBI is not considering criminal charges, Burroughs said, although she indicated other agencies could decide to pursue the incident.

But Koopman praised fellow farmers who came to his aid. He took the precaution of dumping his farm's milk, he said, creating a temporary lagoon at the back of his farm.

"Farmers are the first line of defense," Koopman said. "We take care of our products, and we take care of each other."

He said that, in general, people over-reacted.

"The government came in, and they just kind of got excited, because everybody else was getting excited," he said.

In the days after the poisonings, there was speculation that it could be the work of eco-terrorists or even union activists. Koopman is a volunteer board member of WestFarm Foods, the marketing arm of the Northwest Dairy Association farmers cooperative, which was involved in a labor dispute that was resolved in May.

Then the investigation turned to the Algona man. But the FBI spokeswoman said yesterday that she knew of no connection between him and the material on Koopman's farm.

Last week, FDA officials gave Koopman the go-ahead to begin pumping and selling milk from his healthy cows, after tests showed the milk did not contain toxic amounts of chromium. No milk from the ill cattle will enter the food supply, officials said.

Nick Perry: 206-515-5639 or nperry@seattletimes.com