Special Report

Some good comes out of EPA data release controversy

There is a lot of concern over the EPA’s release of livestock producers’ personal information to environmental groups. A pork industry spokesman says, however, that some good may come out of the situation. At the World Pork Expo in Des Moines, National Pork Producers Council Chief Environmental Counsel Michael Formica says the fallout surrounding the release has changed the tenor of the debate in Washington, D.C. Formica tells Brownfield Ag News the livestock industry is trying to use that shift to its advantage.

“It’s given an opportunity to go in and really argue and have some success in arguing for some fundamental management and hopefully personnel changes over at EPA,” said Formica, “and to raise the level of input that USDA has whenever EPA wants to begin looking at agriculture again.”

Brownfield Ag News reporter Ken Anderson contributed to this article.

AUDIO: Michael Formica (9 min. MP3)