factory farms and politics

Instead of buying your meat from supermarkets, buy directly from small, local farmers who use sustainable practices.

The EPA's not too concerned about output of these cows and a few thousand of their buddies getting into your local water supply.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—The Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule that will allow concentrated animal-feeding operations, also known as CAFOs or factory farms, to sidestep pollution permits as long as they promise to keep their huge concentrations of liquid manure out of local waterways. The rule will go into affect early next year.

THE DETAILS: Under the Clean Water Act, discharging pollutants into water requires a permit. Environmentalists, industry, and the U.S. government have long fought over the right way to deal with waste from gigantic factory farms, and have even gone to court over the issue. In 2005, a court decision directed the EPA to exempt some CAFOs from needing a permit for discharging pollutants. This final rule goes even further, though, eliminating the requirement for any of the factory farms to go through the permit process, as long as they say they won’t allow pollution discharges. That essentially lets CAFO operators decide for themselves whether they are polluters. “This ‘regulation’ in fact allows these industrial meat ‘farms’ to avoid the Clean Water Act altogether by certifying that they’ve taken voluntary action to avoid discharging,” says Eric Schaeffer, former EPA lawyer and director of the Environmental Integrity Project in Washington, DC. “These certifications cannot be reviewed by federal or state authorities under the final rule, which puts the foxes in charge of their gigantic henhouses.”

Since the rule is a done deal, it’s likely to remain in effect for the foreseeable future, despite the upcoming administration change. “Unfortunately, once a rule or regulation is published in the federal register, a new administration cannot simply cancel it,” says Jeffrey Odefey, staff attorney at Waterkeeper Alliance, a nonprofit clean-water-advocacy group in Irvington, NY. Odefey explains, “The rule will have to go into effect, unless Congress steps in to repeal it. There is a process for doing this called the Congressional Review Act, but I think it’s highly unlikely.”

The EPA did not return messages left by Rodale News.

WHAT IT MEANS: This Bush administration decision is the latest in a string of deregulations that make environmentalists want to tear their hair out. In mid-October, the administration pushed forward a rule that would allow mountaintop removal mining operations to legally dump harmful waste in valleys and cover seasonal streams. In these final days of the Bush presidency, Schaeffer and other environmentalists expect more breaks for polluters.

But regulations notwithstanding, it’s impossible to keep tens of thousands—even millions—of farm animals in one industrial farm location and effectively manage the waste. The huge manure lagoons that are produced can overflow when big storms hit. The gases that spew from these farms also pose health risks to workers and to people who live in the area.

Here’s how you can encourage healthier, more environmentally sound methods of meat production:

• Take your business elsewhere. “The market is one of the most powerful tools that we all have,” says Odefey. “By refusing to purchase meat or dairy products from CAFOs, or the vertically integrated companies that market these products, we support a sustainable alternative and keep local farmers on the land.”

• Talk to your grocer. Tell the people who run your grocery store that you want meat from decentralized, sustainable farms. Then spread the word to friends and family so they can do the same.

• Favor family farms. Visit Local Harvest to find a farm in your area. If you can’t find one nearby, you can order more sustainable meat from a farm’s website. And once you visit a farm, make sure it’s doing things right…

• Try the sniff test. If a farm is managing its manure the right way, you shouldn’t smell it.

• Listen to your eyes. In addition to a nasty nasal invasion, a farm with a manure lagoon can cause your eyes to burn and tear up. The gases are unpleasant, and our bodies react to that.

• Complain to this trio: President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team, your regional EPA office, and your congressional representatives.