OSFR has a long tradition of opposing CAFOs and also with working with Earthjustice. We fully support Earthjustice and this petition and proclaim that CAFOs are unethical and detrimental to our planet and its inhabitants, both human and animal.
Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org
– A river is like a life: once taken,
it cannot be brought back © Jim Tatum
For Immediate Release: October 26, 2022
Contacts:
Nydia Gutiérrez, Earthjustice, ngutierrez@earthjustice.org, (202) 302-7531
Lori Harrison, Waterkeeper Alliance, lharrison@waterkeeper.org, 1.703.216.8565
Forty-Eight Groups Petition EPA to Improve Oversight of Water Pollution from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations
Scientific studies, community stories, and a new report on environmental justice show that industrial meat- and dairy-production facilities harm public health and the environment, especially in communities of color, low-income communities, and under-resourced rural communities nationwide
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, a nationwide coalition of 48 citizens’ groups and community advocacy, environmental justice, and environmental advocacy organizations, together representing tens of millions of people, in partnership with Earthjustice, petitioned [add link] the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to improve its oversight of water pollution from industrial-scale concentrated animal feeding operations, commonly known as Large CAFOs. The petitioning groups argue that improved oversight of Large CAFOs is necessary to satisfy the federal Clean Water Act and executive orders intended to advance environmental justice.
Large CAFOs make up fewer than one percent of farms in the United States, but the animals confined at these industrial facilities produce approximately one-third of all manure from farms nationwide. A single Large CAFO—which, according to EPA’s definition, confines at least 700 dairy cows, for example, or 2,500 swine weighing 55 pounds or more—can generate as much waste as a city. Unlike cities, however, Large CAFOs typically do not treat or disinfect animal waste prior to disposal.
In support of their request, the groups summarize decades of well-established scientific research showing that CAFOs—and Large CAFOs, in particular—routinely discharge water pollution that threatens public health and the environment, including nitrogen, phosphorus, disease-causing pathogens, and pharmaceuticals. In addition, they include personal stories from people who live in communities harmed by CAFO pollution across the country. These community members report that CAFOs create serious water contamination problems, degrade drinking water, and impair opportunities for fishing, boating, and engaging in other forms of recreation.
“I was once an avid fisherman, but I have not been fishing near my home in over a decade,” says Devon Hall, Executive Director of the Rural Empowerment Association for Community Help, who has seen evidence of water pollution from the 30 CAFOs located within three miles of his home in Duplin County, North Carolina. “I stopped fishing after I began to catch fish with open sores. I believe these sores are caused by bacteria and other pollution from CAFOs, and I do not think that fish with open sores are safe to eat.”
The petition also includes a new report detailing racial, ethnic, and other disparities in exposure to CAFO pollution. According to the report, CAFOs cause disproportionate harm to communities of color, low-income communities, and under-resourced rural communities in North Carolina, Iowa, and California’s Central Valley—all areas in which CAFOs are densely concentrated. To petitioners’ knowledge, this report is the first to describe the unequal harm that CAFOs impose on environmental justice communities in the Central Valley.
“CAFOs across the country are releasing pollutants, like dangerous pathogens and nutrients that contribute to toxic algal blooms, into waterways in violation of the federal Clean Water Act, which requires permits that prohibit most pollution discharges,” said Kelly Hunter Foster, Waterkeeper Alliance Senior Attorney. “But more than 70 percent of the nation’s largest CAFOs do not have Clean Water Act permits and, since 2011, the percentage of unpermitted Large CAFOs has increased substantially as the industry has continued to construct and operate new large facilities.”
If granted, the petition would require EPA to adopt a rebuttable presumption that Large CAFOs using wet manure management systems actually discharge water pollution and, thus, must obtain water pollution discharge permits under the Clean Water Act. According to EPA, there are more than 21,000 Large CAFOs nationwide. EPA admits that many CAFOs discharge water pollution, but fewer than 6,300 Large CAFOs hold permits authorizing them to discharge pollution under federal law. Although some Large CAFOs operate under state-law permits, those permits typically are less protective of water quality, offer less transparency, and provide fewer opportunities for public participation, as compared with federal-law permits.
As of 2012, Large CAFOs generated 404 million tons of manure—that is, over 20 times the amount of fecal wet mass produced by all humans living across the United States. Large CAFOs using wet manure management systems—predominately, Large CAFOs that confine swine and dairy cattle—store animal urine and feces in liquid form, a practice that is especially likely to result in water pollution.
“EPA has known for decades that its current permitting system fails to control water pollution from Large CAFOs,” says Alexis Andiman, senior attorney at Earthjustice. “Earlier this year, the Agency acknowledged that CAFO pollution disproportionately harms environmental justice communities—and our petition and report provide further evidence to support both conclusions. It’s time for EPA to take action to protect communities by ensuring that Large CAFOs using wet manure management systems obtain the permits required under federal law, just as polluting facilities in every other industry are required to do.”
The Clean Water Act prohibits any CAFO from discharging water pollution without a permit issued under federal law. Executive Order 12,898 requires EPA to collect data on environmental justice issues, address those issues, and ensure that environmental justice communities are able to participate in EPA’s activities. Executive Order 14,008, which President Biden issued in 2021, directs EPA to strengthen enforcement of environmental violations that disproportionately harm environmental justice communities. EPA Administrator Michael Regan has specifically directed EPA staff to strengthen enforcement of environmental statutes and civil rights laws in communities overburdened by pollution.
About Earthjustice
Earthjustice is the premier nonprofit public interest environmental law organization. We wield the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people’s health, to preserve magnificent places and wildlife, to advance clean energy, and to combat climate change.
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