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Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's Feature Reporter, Andrew Rossi.

Andrew Rossi

Wyomingites and Montanans might want to check their milk cartons. There might be black mold inside.

The state of Montana is grappling with a recent surge of reports of black mold on cartons and prematurely spoiled milk from a dairy that also stocks shelves in northwest Wyoming.

It’s reached a point that the Montana Department of Livestock issued a notice of proposed license suspension to the Meadow Gold Dairy Products factory in Billings on Friday, citing “repeated failures to meet Pasteurized Milk Ordinance standards.” 

Meadow Gold received the notice on Tuesday and had 48 hours to respond, according to reports. 

What is this mysterious black mold, and will it impact Wyoming, if it hasn’t already?

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Smelled Spoiled"}]

Billings resident Saire Mackay bought a 64-ounce jug of Meadow Gold 2% milk from an Albertsons on July 12. The Montana "Sell By" date was July 18 and the Wyoming date was July 25, but things got funky inside the carton before then.

“We noticed it was getting kind of weird looking,” Mackay told Cowboy State Daily. “We were actually going to have some until my husband smelled it, and we saw the black ring on the outside, just like the ones on TV.”

Mackay’s husband, Doug, said the milk “didn’t smell real bad, but I wasn’t going to drink it by the way it smelled.”

By then, Montana news outlets were reporting several similar incidents of black mold in milk cartons in the Billings area.

“Channel 2 News interviewed a mom with grade-school age kids,” Mackay said. “She was showing her carton on TV, and said her kids spat out the milk as soon as they tasted it.”

Meadow Gold Dairy Products released a statement, saying the company “implemented corrective actions to address the complaints and observations made by the Montana Department of Livestock.”

Meanwhile, the Department of Livestock has issued a Notice of Proposed License Suspension and Opportunity for Hearing to DFA Dairy Brands Fluid, LLC, which does business as Meadow Gold.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"What Is It?"}]

While there have been multiple reports about black mold, no explanation has been given. 

 published in The Journal of Dairy Science might have the answer.

In the short communication, "Pseudomonas azotoformans causes gray discoloration in HTST fluid milk,” scientists researched Pseudomonas, a well-known dairy product spoilage organism.

They determined that the gram-negative bacterium, which grows well in refrigeration conditions, can cause color defects in the form of black or grey discoloration, leading to “flavor, odor, and texture defects” in refrigerated milk, pasteurized and unpasteurized, in partially filled containers.

“The defect would likely remain undetected in unopened containers (representing the samples typically used for shelf-life testing by the dairy industry) but may be detected by consumers after partial use of the milk,” the paper reads.

Neither the Montana Department of Livestock nor Meadow Gold Dairy Products have confirmed if the black mold is the result of widespread Pseudomonas contamination.

As of Wednesday, the Department of Livestock has received “no credible reports of illness” associated with the milk or the mold.

“We would like to reiterate there is no indication the issues being reported are attributable to source dairies,” Riley Meredith, Department of Livestock public relations officer, said in a statement.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Wyoming-Bound?"}]

So far, the reports of moldy milk have been concentrated in southeast Montana. Meadow Gold also distributes products in northwest Wyoming, raising concerns the impact might be affecting a much larger population.

Ben Schornak, an inspector specialist with the Wyoming Department of Agriculture (WDA), said he wasn’t aware of any reports of moldy milk cartons in the state.

“From the information coming out of Billings, it looks like they’re working on shutting (Meadow Gold) down,” he said. “If a recall is issued, which means that that product made it down into Wyoming, then we have particular inspectors that deal with recall areas.”

In the event of a Meadow Gold milk recall, Schornak said WDA inspectors will go to any place in Wyoming where that milk has been shipped and pull it from the shelves. However, that is contingent on the company or the State of Montana issuing the recall.

“Per Montana’s state regulations, they’re going to have to issue it,” he said. “We won’t enact (our protocols) until we receive the recall from either the state or the business.”

Moldy milk might have already reached Wyoming. Cowboy State Daily confirmed that a carton of moldy milk was purchased from an Albertsons in Cody in mid-July.

The carton had the same Montana and Wyoming Sell By dates as those reported in the Billings area, but it was inside a 64-ounce carton of chocolate milk distributed by Lucerne Milk, not Meadow Gold.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Now What?"}]

When Mackay learned there were multiple reports of moldy milk cartons, she sent photos of her carton to the Montana Department of Livestock and Dairy Farmers of America, the national milk marketing cooperative headquartered in Kansas City, Kansas.

“I didn’t hear back from the livestock board, but I got an email from Dairy Farmers of America asking me to please call them,” she said. “They were very interested. When I told them it had been on the news in Billings, and a lot of people were talking about it, they were very surprised to hear that.”

Mackay hasn’t had any additional contact with Dairy Farmers of America since that call. She wasn’t given any information or instruction about the moldy milk cartons.

“I’ve also heard that (the mold) showed up in milk cartons from other brands,” she said. “I can't speak to that, but I have heard that.”

Schornak reaffirmed he wasn’t aware of any reports of moldy milk cartons in Wyoming but said that would “be a new one” for the Wyoming Department of Agriculture.

“The general complaints we get are for food sickness and sanitary conditions, not this,” he said.

If anyone buys a milk carton that develops the black mold, Schornak encouraged them to contact the Wyoming Department of Agriculture and make a report.

“They can do it via email, on our website, or by calling our main office,” he said. “We will take the report, and either an inspector will be sent out within 48 hours, or we will investigate the complaint, find out the facts, and do an inspection accordingly.”

As of Thursday, Meadow Gold Billings hadn’t stopped operations, and neither the company nor the State of Montana has issued a recall.

If either of these scenarios arises, Schornak assured Wyomingites the Department of Agriculture will respond promptly. 

"If they send out a recall, that will come to us, and we will enact our recall protocols and get it removed from the facilities it was shipped to," he said.

Moldy milk 1 8 6 26

Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>Montana Dairy That Sells In Wyoming Under Fire For Moldy Cartons, Spoiled Milk | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The Montana Department of Livestock said it could take action against Meadow Gold Dairy Products of Billings after "black mold" in cartons and prematurely spoiled milk were reported. Meadow Gold also stocks shelves in northwest Wyoming.

Montana Dairy That Sells In Wyoming Under Fire For Moldy Cartons, Spoiled Milk

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's general assignment reporter, Clair McFarland.

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Politics

Secretary of State Chuck Gray on Thursday indicated it's Gov. Mark Gordon's fault that he voted yes on an easement for a data center generation facility in June. 

Gordon called that "clearly an excuse concocted by Mr. Gray to cover up the fact that he is not doing his homework and is taking votes he does not understand." 

The governor also said that Gray sounds "like a jackass in a tin barn." 

In his campaign against eight other Republicans for the GOP nomination to U.S. House, Gray is the only candidate voicing outright opposition to data centers. Many of his opponents have said it’s the state and local governments’ role, not the role of Congress, to dictate policies on data centers.  

Gray was the lone no-vote of the State Board of Land Commissioners in February, on approving a 35-year easement for Cheyenne Power Hub, a generation facility 

 being the lone nay on the data center project easement at Tuesday night’s House debate.

 to that same data center generator facility.  

Gray told Cowboy State Daily he voted in favor of that data center-feeding facility because the vote’s true nature wasn’t clearly noticed, and “it looked like an easement for an oil and gas producer.”

Members of the State Board of Land Commissioners receive application documents a week before each meeting, and Office of State Lands (OSLI) and Investments personnel offer them a chance to ask questions and gain clarity before the meetings, OSLI communications and policy analyst Melissa Defratis said in a brief Thursday interview. 

[{"type":"text","text":"'An Ongoing Problem'"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Gray also blamed Gordon for what he calls inadequate notice of the votes."}]

“Unfortunately, at certain times, the Governor has found ways to hide what these leases are actually doing,” said Gray in a Thursday email. “For example, 

, it wasn’t even mentioned that any of the easement applications had anything to do with the data center.”

The June application was from the same facility that drew Gray’s no-vote in February.

“There was no way for the Board members to know, which has been an ongoing problem," Gray said.

All projects, easements, and Temporary Use Permits having anything to do with wind, solar, or data centers should be clearly noticed to the State Board of Land Commissioners," said Gray. "The fact that they haven’t been, including in the June meeting, is deeply disturbing to me.  

"It shows Gordon’s continued attempts to force outrageously wrong wind, solar, and data center projects without clear notice and knowledge of the public, including the State Board of Land Commissioners.

Gray accused Cowboy State Daily of being “the ultimately ally of Mark Gordon” and an unspecified group of “insiders.”

Gordon responded in a strongly-worded statement, noting that the members of the State Board of Land Commissioners are "fully briefed with every opportunity to ask the staff for more information. Nothing is being hidden from Mr. Gray."

Gordon said Gray has not been doing his homework and has been voting on things he doesn't understand. 

The governor said that in Thursday's meeting, "Mr. Gray appeared to be unprepared or unfamiliar with the material in front of him and was distracted by his cellphone during the meeting as he has been before." 

The governor said Wyoming's elected officials are expected to come prepared to meetings. 

"Mr. Gray continues to show his inability to understand the issues before him and to work well with his colleagues," said Gordon, adding, "The Secretary is sounding like a jackass in a tin barn." 

[{"type":"text","text":"The Substation Access Vote"}]

In the Thursday meeting of the State Board of Land Commissioners, Gray nearly voted against giving Tri-State Generation and Transmission permission to use a 298-foot access road in rural central Wyoming on Thursday, after voicing concerns about whether the company would use the road to advance any wind, solar or data center projects. 

Tri-State Generation and Transmission is a wholesale power supplier serving eight electric cooperatives in Wyoming including High Plains Power, Carbon Power and Light and Big Horn Rural Electric Company.

Tri-State applied for a five-year, temporary-use permit for a 288-foot access road in remote Natrona County for $250 a year.

The elected officials on the State Board of Land Commissioners and the public have access to these applications at least a week before each meeting.

Secretary of State Chuck Gray announced at the Thursday meeting in Cheyenne that he would vote no on the permit because he didn’t know if the access road involved any data centers, wind or solar projects.

After a lively debate about supplying irrigation power to farmers, Gray reversed course and voted yes to approve the permit.

Tri-State told Cowboy State Daily after the meeting that its application isn't tied to any potential projects. 

It was for access renewal into an existing Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) substation, where Tri-State keeps equipment for operational and grid reliability purposes, "that from time to time requires routine maintenance," the company said.

That substation also abuts one of Tri-State's own substations, serving High Plains Power, the company said. 

[{"type":"text","text":"'Futile Call To Essentially Stifle Capitalism'"}]

Conversation at the Thursday meeting turned to Tri-State’s request for access via a 288-foot route.

Gray had asked administrative staff if applicants were associated with data centers, wind energy or solar projects. He told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday that that “blanket” inquiry was due to his concerns that board members don’t have enough information.

Office of State Lands and Investments Director Stacia Berry said she’d reviewed the list for temporary-use permits. None appeared to be associated in any way with those projects, except for one unknown, she said.

“The only one I’d note is (the Tri-State application),” said Berry. “This is an access road. I can’t guarantee what all is associated with that access road.”

Berry said the office tried to contact Tri-State, but the company had no notice its access road application would come up as a standalone topic at the meeting.

[{"type":"text","text":"Gray asked to remove that application from the list."}]

State Auditor Krisi Racines granted his wish by moving the whole list without it.

“I’m going to vote no on this,” said Gray. “It might be fine. They (the office) reached out. They (Tri-State) didn’t respond. We don’t know.”

Gray said the board should “tighten things up here. I think it’s gotten too loose, and I’m going to be a no here.”

Gov. Mark Gordon noted that Tri-State is a significant power generator for multiple cooperatives that distribute power to Wyomingites.

Gray again said the board’s administrative office hadn’t heard back from Tri-State.

“I would just supplement that with, they’ve had about 35 minutes,” said Berry. “They didn’t anticipate needing to be present today.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Treasurer Curt Meier issued a warning."}]

“Impeding, you know, generation and power to me seems like a futile call to essentially stifle capitalism,” said Meier. “We need power in this state for economic development. Tri-State supplies power to practically every irrigator and farmer in the state.”

Meier warned of denying Tri-State access to power facilities “in this extreme drought area.”

[{"type":"text","text":"He shook his head. "}]

“I’m really grasping the utility of continuing this dialogue,” he said.

[{"type":"text","text":"Gray changed course, saying he would probably vote for the access route."}]

“But I just asked a simple question: is this tied to wind or solar. And we can’t get an answer,” he said. “I just think it’s really disturbing, to me.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Meier countered."}]

“At no time I think in the last decade or even in the last 10 minutes have I heard that wind and solar is illegal,” said Meier. “And I think trying to manage our economy on political ideology instead of law is troubling to me.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Gordon said he wanted to get back on track."}]

Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder called for the vote. When the other board members voted aye, Gordon turned to Gray and asked if he was choosing to abstain from the vote.

Gray gestured and said something the livestream audio didn’t capture clearly.  

[{"type":"text","text":"“He’s voting aye,” said Gordon."}]

Gray told Cowboy State Daily in his Thursday email that he changed course because Berry indicated the project was probably not linked to wind, solar or data center projects.

Earlier in that meeting, the discussion turned to a 2.46-acre, 39-year easement request for which Enbridge Solar offered to pay a $56,235 one-time fee.

Gray asked the board to remove Enbridge’s application from a bigger list of easement applications by various companies.

Gordon asked the board three times if anyone would support Gray’s amendment. Silence followed.

[{"type":"text","text":"“Mr. Secretary, I’m sorry, that motion fails,” said Gordon."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Degenfelder urged thoughtfulness."}]

“I know discussion is on this Enbridge Solar, but I think we should be cognizant we’re talking about access only,” said Degenfelder. “So when we start prohibiting access, we get ourselves into trouble.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Gray said he’d be voting no on the easements consent list."}]

“It’s just really unfortunate we weren’t able to have a discussion on the Enbridge Solar piece separately,” said Gray. “It’s linked to the data center south of town.”

Chuck Gray and Mark Gordon 8 6 26

<title>Gordon: Gray Sounds Like 'Jackass In A Tin Barn' For Blaming Data Center Vote On Gov | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Chuck Gray, who campaigns against data centers, indicated Thursday that his aye-vote on an easement for a data center generator was Gov. Mark Gordon's fault. "The Secretary is sounding like a jackass in a tin barn," Gordon responded.

Gordon: Gray Sounds Like 'Jackass In A Tin Barn' For Blaming Data Center Vote On Gov

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Wyoming is among 27 states reporting illnesses from a recent salmonella outbreak linked to imported jalapeño peppers.

While federal health officials say there is no ongoing risk to customers who eat at Chipotle or QDOBA chain Mexican restaurants, a Wyoming health official says the outbreaks are a reminder of the tradeoffs that come with the modern food system.

"I think it is part of the cost of doing business for our industrialized society," Park County Health Officer Aaron Billin told Cowboy State Daily. "We get our foods in bulk. 

"One hundred years ago, people had small farms, grew a little bit of everything, but now people specialize just in jalapeños and sell on a massive scale. And if that food supply gets contaminated, that's a problem."

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday that 345 people have been sickened by the outbreak strain of 

. Thirty-six have been hospitalized, but no deaths have been reported.

The FDA's public case map places Wyoming in a category with five or six reported illnesses.

Chipotle and QDOBA have removed their affected products.

Although the last known illnesses began in July, the outbreak is only now drawing widespread attention after federal investigators completed weeks of patient interviews and supply-chain tracing that identified a common grower in Sinaloa, Mexico, as the likely source.

The salmonella outbreak comes as Wyoming continues to monitor another foodborne illness investigation.

 of Cyclospora, a microscopic parasite that causes prolonged watery diarrhea, stomach cramps and fatigue.

State health officials said five of those cases were associated with international travel while one remained under investigation.

Billin said foodborne outbreaks are an unfortunate reality of an interconnected food system.

"We trust that our food, either bought at the supermarket or bought at a restaurant, is safe," he said. "But we have these outbreaks every once in a while."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Tracing The Source"}]

According to the FDA, 177 of 191 people interviewed — about 93% — reported eating at a Mexican-style restaurant before becoming sick. Those restaurants included Chipotle Mexican Grill and QDOBA.

[{"type":"text","text":"Billin said outbreaks like this happen."}]

"Across the United States, we have probably half a dozen salmonella outbreaks every year," he said, noting previous outbreaks have been linked to eggs, backyard poultry, produce, pet reptiles and commercial food supplements.

While Wyoming has reported about six illnesses in the current outbreak, he said none are believed to have resulted in hospitalization.

Billin said contaminated produce can originate from several sources, including infected workers handling food after using the restroom, contaminated irrigation water or contaminated wash water used during processing.

"The more they wash it, the more contaminated it becomes," he said of the latter scenario. 

Because produce today is grown and distributed on such a large scale, a single contamination event can quickly spread across the country, he added.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Restaurants Responded"}]

After learning of the outbreak, Chipotle and QDOBA removed the affected jalapeño peppers from their restaurants.

Chipotle said its ingredient traceability system allowed it to quickly identify peppers from the affected grower and replace them with jalapeños from different suppliers.

"The health and safety of our guests and employees is our highest priority," the company said in a statement. "The recalled jalapeño peppers are no longer in Chipotle restaurants. Given these actions, the CDC and FDA have said they do not consider there to be a current ongoing risk from Chipotle restaurants in this outbreak."

The FDA said QDOBA also stopped serving the affected jalapeños July 28, and Coast Citrus Distributors has agreed to recall the remaining peppers linked to the outbreak.

Wyoming has two Chipotle restaurants — in Casper and Cheyenne — and seven QDOBA locations.

Multiple attempts to reach a manager at a Wyoming Chipotle on Thursday were unsuccessful. Calls were answered by an automated AI phone assistant that directed Cowboy State Daily to the company's website.

[{"type":"text","text":"A Casper QDOBA employee also declined to comment."}]

"Unfortunately, I am not allowed to comment," the employee said. "I was told to tell anyone asking about that to go to our website."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"One Diner's Experience"}]

Although federal officials say the affected product has been removed from restaurants, one Montana woman said she became violently ill after eating at a Chipotle location this week.

Nicole Lubick of Butte, Montana, told Cowboy State Daily she ordered vegetable fajitas with fresh tomato salsa on Aug. 4.

"I went home and ate, and honestly it didn't taste right," Lubick said. "It seemed like there was a lot of fat or something on the meat. It just didn't seem that great or fresh. But stupid me, I kept eating it."

[{"type":"text","text":"She said she woke around 2 a.m. sweating before becoming violently ill."}]

"I went to the bathroom, and sure enough, I started projectile vomiting," she said. "I probably vomited for two hours."

"I have never been so sick in my life," she added. "My gut says food poisoning."

Lubick said she had long considered Chipotle one of the healthier fast-food options and frequently ate there.

"I'm definitely going to rethink my eating habits and try to eat at home and eat locally grown food," she said.

Lubick said she reported her illness to her local health department and submitted a report through Chipotle's website.

There is no indication her illness has been linked to the salmonella outbreak, but Billin said her experience reflects why even isolated reports of foodborne illness can shake public confidence in a food system that depends on products being grown, shipped and served on a massive scale.

Chipotle jalapenos 8 6 26

<title>More Explosive Diarrhea: Wyoming Hit By Salmonella From Mexican Jalapeños | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Wyoming is among 27 states that was hit by a recent salmonella outbreak traced to jalapeños served at chain Mexican restaurants. It’s just “the cost of doing business” anymore in today’s modern food system, said a Park County health officer.

More Explosive Diarrhea: Wyoming Hit By Salmonella From Mexican Jalapeños

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's business and tourism reporter, Renée Jean

Renée Jean

Energy

Wyoming’s first nickel sulfide discovery

 in the Granite Mountains north of Jeffrey City in 2024. This year, it’s moving into a decisive drilling phase as it tries to turn that find in the under-explored greenstone belt into Wyoming’s first and only nickel mine, producing a metal the federal government has designated as critical.

“We’ve identified some nickel targets, and we’re going to be drilling them this year,” Visionary Metals CEO Wes Adams told Cowboy State Daily. “We’ve used a lot of scientific methods to help reduce the amount of areas we have to explore.”

, scanning the earth’s crust from the air down to roughly 3,300 feet below the surface. It might sound like something out of a Star Trek movie, but it isn’t science fiction anymore. 

The technique uses subtle changes in Earth’s magnetic field to point the way to where valuable metals and minerals might be hiding. 

“That helped narrow down areas for exploration,” Adams said. “And then in areas where we do see targets, we follow up with ground surveys, which tell us exactly where these critical metal deposits might exist.”

After that, it’s drilling time — to test the areas with as little environmental impact as possible and further hone in on whether Wyoming has a nickel mine.

“It’s not like oil and gas drilling, where you have these giant pads and giant rigs,” Adams said. “We’re just drilling a 3-inch hole in the ground, to get a representative sample of what’s down there.”

That will ultimately determine how big the resource opportunity is, and whether it’s economically feasible to develop today in the future as technology matures.

Visionary’s core Wyoming focus is an Archean greenstone belt, a blend of ancient volcanic and sedimentary rock that often hosts gold and nickel, in the Granite Mountains. There’s a potential for multiple discoveries across a belt that’s 62 miles long and 25 miles wide. 

Any future mine would still go through permitting and environmental review. Leading up to that, the company has leveraged technology to keep its environmental footprint as small as possible. 

“The (aeromagnetic survey) was a great tool because it allowed us to cover a lot of ground without much impact,” Adams said. “We don’t need boots on the ground to conduct airborne surveys, so that gives us a lot of really good data we can use.”

Three-dimensional modeling was used to further refine what might be where, helping to reduce disturbance to the ground. 

“It also makes things more efficient from a cost perspective,” Adams said. “And it gives you a higher chance of having success … instead of if you were to drill, like when you were doing mineral exploration in the 1950s, '60s or even '70s.”

The approach in that timeframe involved spotting minerals on the surface as a primary indicator, then digging to see if there were more. 

“With modern technologies we can use all the data we can collect with a helicopter, with satellite surveys, with geologic mapping that’s been done over the years, with soil sampling, to figure out where the highest potential areas are,” Adams said. “And once we’ve narrowed those down, you can go out and use some geophysical ground surveys — magnetic surveys — that help you model the conductive metals in the ground before you even have to drill-test them.”

That way, once a company starts drilling tests, it’s more about determining the specific grade of metals rather than where the deposits are. 

“So now we’ve defined a few key target areas and we’re going to be testing the kind of mineralization that exists at our Tin Cup project and our King Solomon project,” Adams said. “So this is really an exciting year for us.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Deep Wyoming Roots"}]

Although Visionary is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and maintains its headquarters in Vancouver, British Columbia, Adams grew up in the Rocky Mountain Region and frequented the Rawlins area when he was growing up. He now lives in Lander and maintains a working office there. 

Armed with new technology and a major mining partner, Visionary Metals is ready to probe just how big — and how valuable — a nickel discovery at Jeffrey City is. If realized, it will be a first of its kind in the Western U.S. since the 1940s.

Charles Ray Ebbeka, 65