PANIC OVER PUPPY MILLS – CALLOUSNESS OVER CAFOS

Labeling is everything.  Recently, the Indiana legislature wound itself up over “puppy mill” legislation this session, but no one seemed to give a second thought to the treatment of animals that bear the label of  “here for your eating pleasure.”

I just am not sure how people ignore the fact that cows, pigs, turkeys, ducks, sheep, and chickens also feel pain and suffering.  The animals we label as commodities  are raised in an environment that treats them as nothing more than – well, nothing.

We panic over the treatment of “pets” because we have labeled them in such a way that they are seen as companions and partners in our journey through life.  We pamper them, care for them, and bury them in special places.  Yet, when it comes to animals that we have decided to label “food”, we turn our heads to the cruelty and disdain with which they are treated.

CAFOs – where these commodities are housed – are nothing more than houses of death and destruction.  Animals are packed into close quarters, fed hormone-laced grain, and injected with antibiotics to combat diseases that thrive in the close-packed quarters.   All for the purpose of increasing production so that Americans and the rest of the world can consume more meat so that more arteries can become clogged so that more people can die of heart disease.

What a difference a label makes.  Too bad we haven’t figured out the power that those labels contain.

CAFO LEGISLATION MOVES OUT OF COMMITTEES

Maybe this will be the year the General Assembly decides to watch out for environmental interests rather than pork producers.  Several bills have been introduced this legislative session which attempt to regulate Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs).  In years past, bills have been introduced and interest groups have kept them from becoming law.  Of course those interests are the livestock industry, in particular, the pork industry.

This year a number of bills have been introduced.  They are as follows:

DIGEST OF HB1074 (Updated February 20, 2009 12:23 pm – DI 84)

Confined feeding operations. Establishes good character disclosure requirements for confined feeding operations and concentrated animal feeding operations (operations). Requires operators to maintain liability insurance. Allows the department of environmental management (IDEM) to review and act on disclosed good character information. Provides that: (1) IDEM approval of operations applies to both original construction and modifications; (2) the requirement for notice to owners and occupants of neighboring land applies to all operations; and (3) notice be published after a application or notice of intent is filed.

DIGEST OF HB 1075 (Updated February 17, 2009 11:48 am – DI 77)

CAFO setbacks around state owned properties. Provides that after June 30, 2009, a person may not: (1) start construction of a confined feeding operation if any part of the operation; (2) start construction of a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) if any part of the CAFO; or (3) enter into an agreement for manure application if any part of the manure application area; is within two miles of the boundary of a state park or reservoir operated by the department of natural resources.

The one I really like is Senate Bill 0050, which places a three-year moratorium on construction of CAFOs.  But I imagine that one will have about as much chance of passing as pigs flying.  It is still stuck at the first reading and probably will not progress further.

Photo Credit:  Google Images

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Indiana has become a haven for CAFO construction.  Daniels has made it clear that he intends to double pork production within the next few years, and he has made every effort to ensure that the regulatory climate is as weak possible.  He recently abolished the enforcement arm of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and his toadies are attempting to establish a board to make sure any regulation that is too restrictive – based on their boss’s opinion – does not see the light of day.

The Little Emperor has it in for Indiana’s environment, and he doesn’t intend to stop until he has turned Indiana into one huge, hazardous, smelly CAFO.

CAFOs DAMAGE WATER QUALITY IN THE ST. MARYS RIVER

In general, a Confined Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) is a very large Confined Feeding Operation (CFO)  that requires a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination (NPDES) System for discharges or potential discharges of water contamination.

However, any animal production unit, regardless of size, that has had a significant pollution discharge or plans to treat manure and discharge treated effluent that meets state water quality standards may be required to obtain an NPDES discharge permit and is defined as a CAFO.

In the federal rule of 2003, CAFOs were required to obtain a permit if the operation housed at least 1,000 beef cattle, 700 mature dairy cattle, 1,000 veal calves, 2,500 swine (over 55 lbs), 10,000 swine (less than 55 lbs), 500 horses, 10,000 sheep, 55,000 turkeys, 125,000 chickens (dry systems), 82,000 layers (dry system), 30,000 ducks (dry system), 30,000 chickens or layers (liquid system), and 5,000 ducks (liquid system).

As a result of a recent court ruling, however, revisions developed by the EPA rescinded the requirement to apply for an NPDES permit based solely on animal numbers. As of January 2007, approximately 620 of the 2260 CFOs in Indiana were defined as CAFOs.

This past week the Fort Wayne Farm Show was held at the Coliseum and with a slight twist in presentation of information.  Clint Nester, program manager for the St. Marys Watershed Initiative, addressed water quality near livestock facilities, including CFOs and CAFOs –  a topic that does not sit well with those who own and operate these polluting facilities.  He has no doubt that livestock affect the quality of water, particularly in the area of E. Coli distribution.  The more densely packed livestock operations are, the higher E. coli levels are likely to be in nearby waters.

During his session at the farm show, Nester showed findings from water-quality tests performed at about 20 points in the St. Mary’s watershed, which includes parts of Allen, Adams and Wells counties.  In the St. Mary’s watershed, the area of densest animal operations and lowest water quality is in central Adams County, between Berne and Monroe. Whether the measure of water quality is fecal bacteria, nutrient loads or amount of suspended sediment, the areas where the most livestock is raised is where water quality is worst.

In Indiana, according to IDEM, the percent of total permitted production operations by species in Indiana are as follows: 70% swine (a la Mitch Daniels), 8.3% beef, 8.1% dairy, 6.9% chickens, 6.6% turkeys, .04% ducks and .03% sheep. Certain areas in Indiana have a significant concentration of confinement operations.  The numbers of CFO operations are highest in Carroll, Clinton, Wabash, Adams, Decatur, Daviess, and Dubois counties.  CAFO operations are highest in Kosciusko, Wabash, White, Carroll, Jay, Randolph, and Dubois counties.

This year, once again, our legislature has the opportunity to take action to protect our state and its environment.  And once again,  I have to wonder whether our legislators will buckle to Daniels’ ever-present and destructive goal of turning Indiana into one big CAFO.    The distribution map below shows he is certainly on his way to his goal of doubling pork production within the next few years.

Daniels has little respect for our Hoosier environment as has been shown by his abolition of the enforcement division of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.  This year our legislature needs to get some guts and pass laws regulating CAFOs and stop Daniels from his destruction of our Indiana environment.

Map of livestock distribution in Indiana

Photo Credit: Purdue University

GREAT LAKES REGIONAL COUNCIL CHAIR GOES TO MITCH DANIELS – WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?

Okay – what were those governors thinking? Or whoever it was that was responsible for selecting a chair for the Great Lakes Compact regional council? Mitch Daniels as the chair is the classic fox guarding the chicken coop. And for those who aren’t quite sure what that means, let me explain.

Letting the “fox” guard the “chicken coop” is akin to putting a person in charge of a task wherein that person has an adverse interest and will be in a position to exploit the situation.   Of course the irony is that the fox would rather eat the chickens than protect them.  We usually think of this idiom when it comes to administrative agencies, which are typically considered to be loaded with foxes guarding the chicken coops in their particular areas of expertise.

Mitch Daniels as the chair of the Great Lakes Regional Council is certainly a step in the wrong direction. After a decade-long struggle to accomplish an agreement to protect the Great Lakes from diversions of large quantities of water, we don’t need to set the progress backwards.

The Great Lakes – Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario – and their connecting channels form the largest fresh surface water system on earth.  The Lakes cover more than 94,000 square miles and drain more than twice as much land.  These Freshwater Seas hold an estimated 6 quadrillion gallons of water, about 20% of the world’s fresh surface water supply and about 90% of the U.S. supply.   Spread evenly across the contiguous 48 states, the lakes’ water would be about 9.5 feet deep.

The Great Lakes Compact generally bars large-scale, long-distance withdrawals from the lakes.   But a loophole in the bill waives the diversion ban for any container less than 5.7 gallons. That means that the bottled water industry is off the hook.  The possibility for exploitation of this loophole is enormous, and with someone with Daniels’ view of using the environment for gain and profit, that exploitation looms on the horizon.

Our Midwest environment is simply too important to entrust someone with Daniels’ view of the environment with such a position.

Photo Credit:  Great-Lakes.net

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If you recall, Daniels wants to turn Indiana into one large Confined Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO). His “Possibilities Unbound” plan of 2005 clearly states his goal of doubling hog production within a few years.  His goal of doubling hog production has led to hundreds of CAFOs popping up all over the state,  primarily in the east central portion and, more recently, in our region.

CAFOs damage the environment whether it be the air, water, or land.  Yet Daniels supports them as a way of implementing what he calls newer technologies such as cramming thousands of animals into buildings where they barely have room to turn around.  It also means dumping thousands of tons of manure on land with that manure contaminating rivers and underground sources of water.  It also means fouling the air for miles surrounding the CAFOs.

Here is the Daniels’ plan for CAFOing Indiana:

Double hog production while increasing pork processing capacity in the state.

Key Accomplishments

• Total hog and pig production is up 8 percent from 2005.
• The swine breeding herd increased by 14 percent in 2006.
• In 2006, permits for confined feeding operations increased by 8.5 percent.

But that is not all Daniels wants to do to Indiana’s environment.  Daniels has a plan to “manage” our Indiana forests – in other words to increase timber cutting.  This can also be found in his “Possibilities Unbound” plan.

And how will much of this be accomplished?  Why, by discouraging regulations or, at the very least, backing off on enforcement.  Daniels slyly calls this “working closely with the State’s regulatory agencies to ensure science-based standards are considered in agricultural matters and do not impede economic development.  All regulations impede, to some degree, economic development.  So what does he really mean by “not impeding economic development?”

And the real irony?  Daniels fought to enable the BP refinery in Whiting to increase its pollution of Lake Michigan.  With Daniels’ record on the environment – really – what were they thinking?

The Great Lakes from space – Photo Credit:  Environment News Service

BRADTMUELLER CAFO CONNIVANCE

So another CAFO is on its way to Allen County, and it will not be stopped.

Certainly the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) will not stop it, for its only role is to rubber-stamp those applications that are received and appear to meet its minimal requirements. Daniels and Skillman made it known in 2005 through their agricultural plan that the goal was to double pork production in the next few years.

Certainly Allen County will not stop it, for County officials do not even understand the issue and have allowed the issue to languish. County officials haven’t even bothered to take a good, hard look at the environmental and health risks associated with CAFOs and the impact on the quality of life in Allen County.

Certainly our state legislators will not stop it, for they have consistently failed to confront the issue with any amount of seriousness. For two years now, legislation has been introduced, but the legislature has failed to act on any of it. The interest groups that support the exploding CAFO industry have managed to persuade our legislators that regulation isn’t necessary.

Certainly, the double-crossing nephew who lied to his aunt as to his intentions when purchasing her land will not stop it, for he knew his plan all along was to build a CAFO. His aunt, Pam Bradtmueller, has asked “where is his conscience?” To her, he no longer has one.

Doug Bradtmueller filed his CAFO application with IDEM on July 10, 2008, and received approval on August 15, 2008. The decision barely took five weeks, a length of time that indicates just how little is required of IDEM to review and rubber-stamp a CAFO application. Although IDEM provided a comment period, it quickly rejected a request for a public hearing subsequent to the numerous complaints it received during that comment period.

IDEM’s hasty actions make clear it isn’t interested in providing a forum to discuss any environmental or health concerns of surrounding residents. IDEM is simply interested in kowtowing to the governor’s mandate to double pork production in a few short years.

It is time for the citizens of Allen County to wake up and understand what is happening to its rural environment. CAFOs are called factory farms for a reason; these mega farms are not agriculture. They are industrial farms, and just like any other burgeoning industry, they bring with them increased environmental and health hazards.

Photo Credit: Google Images

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So, if we cannot count on our elected officials to act, and we cannot count on IDEM to protect us, then we must take on the task ourselves. Arm yourselves with information, dig into the process of CAFO approvals, and research the hazards to our environment and our health. but most of all, be prepared to take a stand and be prepared not to stand back. Our environment and quality of life are too important.

OH NO – ANOTHER CA-FO

Another Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) is a comin’ to Allen County. This one will be number 6 and will be located at 12102 Rohrbach Road. The operation will house 4,000 hogs. A hog produces about 14 pounds of manure a day, which equals a whopping 56,000 pounds of manure a day for a 4,000 head operation. In tonnage that equals 28 tons.

All that waste is held in pits under the slatted floors of the confinement building and eventually placed in “manure” lagoons. The proprietor hauls the juicy concoction out to the fields for spreading or injection, often times in a vehicle euphemistically called a “honey wagon.”

CAFOs have become the darling of the meat production industry with mass production becoming increasingly popular, especially in the hog industry. In the past 15 years, the number of U.S. hog farms has dropped from 600,000 to 157,000. However, the total hog inventory has remained almost the same. In the past 10 years, the U.S. has lost 84,220 farms with the vast majority of this farm loss in the form of small farms.

CAFOs are linked to a number of health and aesthetic issues.

• WATER: CAFO operators apply animal waste to area fields either through injection or spreading, often resulting in the soil becoming saturated with pollutants such as pathogens, phosphorus, nitrate and ammonia. Rainfall causes these chemicals to leach out of the soil and to seep into the underground water table, contaminating surrounding drinking-water sources.
• HEALTH: CAFO air emissions constitute a hazard to public health and worker health with increased rates of nausea, headaches, vomiting or diarrhea and even brain damage and life-threatening pulmonary edema. The American Public Health Association has called for a moratorium on new CAFOs pending additional research on these documented risks.
• AIR (ODOR): People living near CAFOs have long complained about odor emanating from these facilities. Poor air quality in the vicinity of CAFOs has been linked to health concerns like upper respiratory diseases.
• PROPERTY RESALE VALUE: Property resale value may be affected by a nearby CAFO since air quality and quality of life

Image credit: Google Earth

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The Indiana Department of Environmental Management is taking comments regarding the newest factory farm. But don’t look for IDEM to listen to the public or to deny the permit. IDEM has fallen in step with Governor Daniels’ desire to double hog production in the next few years.

IDEM claims its only role is to review the application and the manure handling plan, and, if in order, the application is rubber-stamped and the permit sent on its way to the new CAFO owner. So, like it or not, Allen County will more than likely be home to a sixth CAFO with more to come. You can count your little piggies on that.

MORE CAFO CONCERNS

Indiana is experiencing significant growth in the animal agriculture sector, much of it in the form of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), and many Indiana citizens are concerned about the impact that these new farms might have on their communities.

 

 

 

The above picture is of the Whitetail Hog Facility in Missouri. Although this is not an Indiana site, CAFOs vary little in their construction and operation from state to state.

I recently posted an article about a new CAFO coming to southern Allen County in the near future. Barring some unexpected obstacles, it will slide through without much attention paid to its impact in rural Allen County or its potential impact on Fort Wayne.

Residents of Fort Wayne should be concerned because the manure that is sprayed or injected into our soils eventually finds its way to our rivers and our underground drinking sources such as aquifers. An interesting article titled “Migration of Antibiotic Resistance from Animal Feeding Operations into Groundwater“ was published in August by News-Medical.net. A few snippets from the article are below:

In a new study, researchers at the University of Illinois report that some genes found in hog waste lagoons are transferred like batons from one bacterial species to another. The researchers found that this migration across species and into new environments sometimes dilutes and sometimes amplifies genes conferring antibiotic resistance.

Tetracycline is widely used in swine production. It is injected into the animals to treat or prevent disease, and is often used as an additive in hog feed to boost the animals growth. Its near-continuous use in some hog farms promotes the evolution of tetracycline-resistant strains in the animals digestive tracts and manure.

The migration of antibiotic resistance from animal feeding operations into groundwater has broad implications for human and ecological health. There are roughly 238,000 animal feeding operations in the U.S., which collectively generate about 500 million tons of manure per year. Groundwater comprises about 40 percent of the public water supply, and more than 97 percent of the drinking water used in rural areas.

Purdue University has established a website specifically to address CAFO concerns. Purdue has brought together a wide range of experts to address and research different concerns surrounding CAFOs. The goal is to afford consumers, producers, and community leaders the ability to make well-informed decisions regarding issues that may coincide with the expansion of animal agriculture in Indiana.

After posting the Public Notice in reference to the Schuhler CAFO, I called the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) and spoke with Thomas Park, the individual listed in the notice. Although Mr. Park was cordial, he seemed irritated that I wanted a copy of the materials filed. He stated a couple of times that he probably could answer my questions. I stated that I did not think so and asked that I be sent the materials. He then took my address and indicated he would send a copy of the application.

The notice was published on November 6th but was received a week earlier on October 29th. I believe the comment period is 30 days, so that means that one week is gone before the public even has any inkling that a permit request has been filed.

I also called the Allen County Department of Planning Services and was directed to Mark Royse, Deputy Director for Economic Development. I explained the issue and asked about the role of his office in the oversight of such operations. Mr. Royse said he would “walk down the hall” and find out and would call me right back. I didn’t receive a return call. I realize it was 3:00 p.m. on a Friday afternoon, and many workers are already wrapping up and getting ready to head home for the weekend. I will give him the benefit of the doubt. If I don’t hear from him Monday, I will give a call again.

I will post a summary on my blog after I receive the materials from IDEM. Meanwhile, to those concerned about this issue, check out the Purdue site and do some research into the effects of waste such as manure. Governor Daniels and his CAFO supporters refer to those of us who are concerned about these factory farms as not wanting to move into the future and living in the past. We are said to want to hold Indiana “back.”

Sorry, Gov, those allegations don’t work. This is an environmental issue of the greatest importance impacting one of our most precious resources – the water we need to survive.