June 23, 2006

EPA leaves it up to farmers to decide how much pollution they have created

Industrial farms might soon have to obtain permits from the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) when their animal waste are channeled into local rivers, streams and lakes. The agency proposed the new requirement Thursday (Jun 22), but farmers are at liberty to decide what constitutes pollution.

EPA's proposal is a revision of rules from three years ago. A lawsuit brought by a New York-based environmental group, Waterkeeper Alliance, the Sierra Club and the NRDC resulted in a verdict that said the 2003 rules did not limit pollution to the nation's waters.

About 18,800 concentrated animal-feeding operations contribute up to 60 percent of all manure from farms, according to EPA. These produced half a billion tonnes of manure annually.

Although EPA has been ordered by the federal court to consider issuing new standards for controlling disease-causing bacteria, viruses and parasites in farm runoff, the agency had chosen not to take action.

This led some to speculate that EPA has caved in under pressure from the farm lobby.

Melanie Shepherdson, a staff attorney with Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), an environmental advocacy group said by letting farms regulate themselves negates the whole purpose of the Clean Water Act permitting process.

Some of the large-scale farming operators welcomed EPA's proposed rules, saying pork producers can decide for themselves whether a federal Clean Water Act permit is needed.