A dairy farm in Smith’s that neighbours say has racked up more than a thousand complaints for foul odours and spillage of animal waste has also been faulted by health officials for repeated failure of milk-quality tests.

Green Land Farm supplies “the majority” of Bermuda’s milk, according to area MP Michael Dunkley, president of Dunkley’s Dairy, which purchases from farm owner Paul Almeida.

Contacted last week by The Royal Gazette, Mr Dunkley was unaware of any closure notice from the Department of Health on the farm, and said that he would have been alerted at once in such an event.

However, residents, who asked not to be named, said that they had met Armell Thomas, of the health department, last month.

They said they were told at the meeting that health officers were losing patience with Green Land Farm over quality tests of the milk, along with overflows of manure from the property.

The Gazette lodged a query with the Ministry of Health last week to confirm the claim.

Mr Almeida was also contacted, but had not responded by press time last night.

The ministry responded: “Green Land Farm met with the Ministry of Health to discuss and review a plan to improve their milk quality.

“In collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the government veterinarian, a comprehensive plan was formulated to implement necessary enhancements, ensuring improved milk quality at Green Land Farm.”

Milk is pasteurised before being processed for public consumption, meaning that it gets heated to destroy any pathogens.

However, residents produced correspondence from 2019 between the farm owner and the health department, obtained under Public Access to Information requests, showing the farm repeatedly flunking tests for the somatic cell count of its raw milk.

The cell counts refer to white blood cells, which are produced by the body to fight infections. A high count is typically a red flag, indicating dairy cows are being exposed to sub-par conditions.

Bermuda’s legislated limit on the somatic cell count in milk is 500,000 parts per millilitre of raw milk.

For three of the six months spanning June through November 2019, the farm went over the limit — hitting 760,000 for the sample taken on August 14, 2019, and 750,000 in October that year.

For the annual inspection carried out by the Department of Health on November 25, 2019, the excess figures were highlighted.

The inspection also noted “hundreds” of birds at the property, and swarms of flies around excess feed left standing in troughs.

Both have drawn repeated complaints from neighbours in recent years, from as far away as Whitney Institute Middle School.

A letter from December 2019 informed the farm owner that the manure pit on the property was inadequate.

The letter noted that the pit had been approved by planning officials on the condition that if the open pit sparked complaints, action would be taken to resolve them.

Those conditions were shared with the farm’s previous owners, Valter and Lidia Medeiros, who sold the farm to Almeida Dairy Farms in July 2019.

The letter advised Mr Almeida that he had “committed to dealing with all potential nuisances and liaising with local residents in relation to this” — but that noncompliance had been found in the November inspections.

Green Land was told at that time by the environmental health officer that “I am not of a mind to grant a licence for the dairy farm”, meaning it could be shut down by the health ministry.

Mr Almeida committed in January 2020 to relocating some of the cattle from the property.

But the farm has remained unpopular with residents, who described being overwhelmed by the stench of manure.

One resident with knowledge of the latest meeting said a slurry of animal faeces had been flowing across the property of a neighbour.

The farm has also triggered several complaints for the spillage of manure on to the adjoining Railway Trail.

A significant overflow seen last June by The Royal Gazette was blamed by Mr Almeida on persistent wet weather.

Two residents who spoke this week with The Royal Gazette said “more pressure” was being put on the owner of Green Land, who had been “put on notice”.

Both said they had been informed that the dairy farm continued to fall short on quality tests.

Overflowing manure continues.

One resident said it had been suggested to neighbours that Mr Almeida would be “bringing in new farm help”.

The resident added: “It’s unbelievable. We keep hearing of these promises — it’s been years.

“The Department of Health has been helpful, but we think there is some sort of dispute over whether to pursue a closure.”