Gloves come off in editorial about proposal to exempt CAFOs from Superfund regulations

A conflict over whether to apply federal "Superfund" regulations to livestock operations just like any other industry has been coming to a head the past few weeks. The Eugene Register-Guard, newspaper of record for highly-agricultural Lane County in Oregon, US, addresses the issue with a strongly-worded editorial condemning the notion that CAFOs should be exempt. The paper further argues that all other laws concerning the environmental regulation of livestock agriculture should be strengthened and more vigorously enforced than at present. Principal concerns are inadequate storage of manure and wastewater, and land-applications of this material at times or in quantities that cannot be assimilated and recycled by growing crops.

We have seen many instances of filled-to-overflowing lagoons, uncontained piles of waste solids, and manure applications so deep they buried the underlying growth. If by analogy this were human excrement and urine we were talking about, it should be clear to anyone operating a dairy, feedlot or egg ranch what is the source of violent disgust registered by the public to these situations. Regrettably, producer groups and individuals frequently respond to complaints about bad actors with the bromide, "No one cares more about the land and water than farmers."

Electricity producers are finding that customers will pay a premium for "green power" that comes from renewable or non-polluting sources; livestock agriculture would probably find a similar willingness to be paid a little more for milk, meat or eggs derived from environmentally squeaky-clean operations. It might even pay for the costs to come into compliance. It would reward the most conscientious producers and boost the industry's image. Producer groups ought to be way out in front of the regulators in addressing waste-to-resource issues, if in fact "no one cares more."
© 2006 Livestock & Ag Waste Intelligence