All Hands On Deck: Clean Coal/Dirty Politics

On Thursday, September 6, 2007, the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing on the public health and environmental impacts of factory farms and a proposal to further erode environmental protections.

Waterkeeper Rick Dove Senate Testimony
Former Neuse Riverkeeper and noted environmental advocate Rick Dove presented evidence of the terrible toll that animal factory wastes have wrought on the communities of North Carolina and the nation. As the second largest producer of hogs in the country, North Carolina is home to thousands of livestock factories, which release dangerous amounts of air and water pollution into neighboring communities and waterways.

Proponents of factory farming want to carve out a loophole for this pollution from two federal environmental laws: CERCLA, also known as “Superfund” and the Emergency Community Planning and Right to Know Act. These laws provide invaluable tools for communities and health officials concerned with the health impacts of factory farm pollution. Dove called on the Senate to exercise caution when considering proposals to weaken these laws, noting that for 30 years they have protected Americans and their environment, without misuse or abuse, and there is no justification for an exemption for any polluting industry, including factory farms. “A growing body of science clearly shows that dangerous gases – ammonia and hydrogen sulfide – emitted from factory farms are now wafting into surrounding neighborhoods, putting the public at severe risk,” explains Dove. “Animal factories have never had to report dangerous air emissions – they hide behind status as farms. But the evidence of their harm to public health, especially children, is growing. These exemptions are a preemptive strike to avoid responsibility.”

Senate Environment and Public Work Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer closed the hearing with a vow to fight any effort to exempt factory farms from pollution laws. “This is going to be a battle; I wanted to have this hearing today to draw the lines of this battle,” said Boxer. “My first priority is to protect the health of the people.”

Waterkeeper Alliance stands firmly behind Senator Boxer. Factory farms produce 500 million tons of animal waste a day, and most of it ends up in our streams, rivers and lakes, polluting our drinking water and air, jeopardizing our health. Waterkeeper Alliance is challenging factory farms across the nation, pushing state and federal agencies for strong regulations and strong enforcement to keep industrial agricultural waste out of our waters. At the same time we are also promoting sustainable food, because responsible farmers produce safer, tastier food that does not destroy, but depends on, a healthy environment. w

Factory Farms Are Big Polluters
Threemile Canyon Farms in Boardman, Oregon, a 52,000 dairy cow operation, emits 15,500 pounds of ammonia each day, more than the nation’s largest reported industrial source of ammonia air pollution (fertilizer-maker CF Industries of Donaldson, Louisiana). Buckeye Egg’s facility in Croton, Ohio emitted 1,600,000 pounds of ammonia in 2003. That’s roughly 44 times EPA’s public health limit, yet these emissions are completely unregulated.