A 9th Circuit Court of Appeals two-judge panel affirmed an order requiring three dairies in Yakima County, Wash., to supply area residents with drinking water and to expand the testing of downslope household wells for nitrates.

Judges Richard Paez and Jay Bybee released the one-page ruling without comment Jan. 7, upholding a preliminary injunction issued in December by U.S. District Judge Thomas O. Rice in Spokane.

The Environmental Protection Agency sought the injunction, claiming Cow Palace, DeRuyter and Liberty dairies over the past decade have failed to reduce nitrates in manure seeping into an aquifer in the Lower Yakima Valley.

The dairies deny the allegation. Rice, who has presided over cases related to elevated levels of nitrates in the valley for nearly a decade, sided with the EPA and ordered the dairies to submit a well-testing plan by Jan. 16.

Diaries also must plan to supply drinking water to potentially hundreds of homes. Rice also ordered Cow Palace to submit a plan to test a manure lagoon liner for leaks. Cow Palace denies the liner leaks.

The dairies asked the 9th Circuit to lift Rice’s emergency order, pending a trial on EPA’s allegations.

The dairies argued valley residents are not in danger, disputing EPA’s claims, and that EPA’s demands overlap with ongoing efforts to test wells and supply drinking water.

Yakima County Commissioners Amanda McKinney, LaDon Linde and Kyle Curtis supported the dairies’ appeal.

The EPA has unnecessarily alarmed residents and undermined confidence in the county’s efforts to test wells and supply drinking water, according to statement by McKinney filed with the court.