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Study: Delmarva poultry pollution ‘overestimated’

May 15, 2013 By Leave a Comment

A University of Delaware-led study finds that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has significantly overestimated the poultry’s industry’s contributions to water pollution in the Delmarva Peninsula.

Researchers tell the Delaware News Journal that the multi-state study, involving thousands of manure tests, discovered that actual nitrogen levels in poultry-house manure are 55 percent lower than EPA’s decades-old, lab-based standards. 

According to a meatingplace.com report, the study could force changes to cleanup efforts in the poultry-rich region.  A formal proposal for changes to the Chesapeake Bay Program’s six-state pollution forecasting model could come as early as next month.  That model is used to guide a federally backed attempt to restore the bay’s health and ecosystems.

The EPA’s efforts to control water pollution in the Delmarva are thought to be a model for possible future federal programs in the Mississippi River watershed.

Filed Under: Events/Organizations, Livestock, News, USDA/Government Tagged With: ,

Johanns: EPA’s handling of producer information ‘is a mess’

May 10, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Reports that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency continued to release personal information about livestock operations—even after livestock groups and members of Congress complained about the situation—have raised the ire of Nebraska U.S. Senator Mike Johanns.

In a written statement, Johanns called EPA’s action “at best, woeful negligence and at worst, a flagrant effort to aid organizations seeking to radically transform American agriculture.” 

According to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, EPA released more records for livestock producers in Nebraska and Montana less than a month after the initial release of records to three environmental activist groups. The initial release of data was in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, but EPA has acknowledged that some of the more private information, including producer names and farm locations, should have been scrubbed before it was released.

Johanns made these comments Wednesday during his weekly conference call with reporters.

AUDIO: Mike Johanns (4:17 MP3)

 

Filed Under: Feature Programs, Rural Issues Tagged With: , , ,

EPA’s actions irk Nebraska senator

May 7, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Reports that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency continued to release personal information about livestock operations—even after livestock groups and members of Congress complained about the situation—have raised the ire of Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns. 

Johanns calls EPA’s action “at best, woeful negligence and at worst, a flagrant effort to aid organizations seeking to radically transform American agriculture.” 

According to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, EPA released more records for livestock producers in Nebraska and Montana less than a month after the initial release of records to three environmental activist groups. The initial release of data was in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, but EPA has acknowledged that some of the more private information, including producer names and farm locations, should have been scrubbed before it was released.

Johanns has asked the EPA for an explanation and the NCBA says it will seek a federal investigation.

Filed Under: Events/Organizations, Livestock, News, USDA/Government Tagged With: , , ,

EPA flyovers come up at Senate hearing

April 29, 2013 By 1 Comment

Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns has been an outspoken critic of the EPA’s use of aerial surveillance to inspect livestock facilities

Johanns resumed his criticism of the flyover program last week during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing in Washington.  He comments were directed at EPA Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe.

“This is so indiscriminate,” Johanns said.  “You’re flying at low altitudes, you’re flying over law-abiding people who are trying to do everything they can to honor your rules and regulations.  And you’re not coming down on the bad actors—you’re checking on everybody—and it feels terrible.”

Perciasepe told Johanns that the agency is not conducting flyovers at the present time.

“We are in the process of—for the springtime here—of looking at what kind of notification system or other kinds of information we would make available before we actually did any of these flights,” Perciasepe said.

Johanns told the EPA official that it’s an issue of transparency and trust.

AUDIO: Johanns-Perciasepe (6:17 MP3)

Filed Under: Events/Organizations, Livestock, News, USDA/Government Tagged With: , , ,

Johanns continues criticism of EPA flyovers

April 29, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns has been an outspoken critic of the EPA’s use of aerial surveillance to inspect livestock facilities

Johanns resumed his criticism of the flyover program last week during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing in Washington.  He comments were directed at EPA Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe.

AUDIO: Johanns-Perciasepe (6:17 MP3)

 

Filed Under: Feature Programs, Rural Issues Tagged With: , , ,

Nebraska cattlemen press EPA for answers

April 22, 2013 By Leave a Comment

The Nebraska Cattlemen’s (NC) organization is pressing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for answers on the release of personal data on livestock confinement operations to environmental groups.

Leaders of Nebraska Cattlemen discussed their concerns last week with EPA officials in Washington.  But NC director of natural resources and environmental affairs Kristen Hassebrook says they really didn’t learn anything new.

“They didn’t have much of a response, other than ‘Whoops!’—which is disappointing,” says Hassebrook.

Hassebrook says her group is asking for an inquiry into protocols and procedures under the Freedom of Information Act.  “Why were they not followed?  How did this information get out in the first place if it wasn’t supposed to?  Those are the types of issues we’ll be pursuing from here on out.”

Hassebrook says the big issue in the release of the personal data is biosecurity.

“The potential threats against our food supply is something of extreme concern at the federal level and for individual beef producers,” she says, “and so that was our primary concern about creating a national database.”

Earlier this year, the EPA gave out details on concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) to the groups in response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.  The information for ten of the 29 states that were part of the release contained some personal data, including individual names, email addresses, phone numbers, personal addresses and facility names. 

EPA recently admitted that the personal information should not have been disclosed under the FOIA request and asked the environmental groups to return the original information.   Hassebrook says EPA told them the three groups that received the information have returned the original CDs containing the information, as requested, but, “my gut says they probably made a copy or two.”

The ten states are Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio and Utah.

AUDIO: Kristen Hassebrook (3:08 MP3)

Filed Under: Events/Organizations, Livestock, News, USDA/Government Tagged With: , , ,

Nebraska cattlemen press EPA for answers on data release

April 22, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Leaders of Nebraska Cattlemen were in Washington last week.  One of their stops was the Environmental Protection Agency, where they pressed agency officials for answers on the release of personal data on livestock confinement operations to three environmental groups.

Earlier this year, the EPA gave out details on concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) to the groups in response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.  The information for ten of the 29 states that were part of the release contained some personal data, including individual names, email addresses, phone numbers, personal addresses and facility names.  EPA recently admitted that the personal information should not have been disclosed under the FOIA request and asked the environmental groups to return the original information.   

Brownfield visited with Kristen Hassebrook, director of natural resources and environmental affairs with Nebraska Cattlemen, who was part of the meeting with EPA.

AUDIO: Kristen Hassebrook (3:08 MP3)

Link to previous story on this issue

Filed Under: Feature Programs, Rural Issues Tagged With: , , , ,

E15 testing bill advances

April 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment

On an 18-17 vote, the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology has voted to report a bill which directs the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a scientific assessment on how gasoline with 15 to 20 percent ethanol may impact gasoline engines and related equipment.

Introduced by Wisconsin Republican James Sensenbrenner in February, HR 875 would halt the sale of E15 and give the Academy 18 months to analyze tailpipe and evaporative emissions, impact on OBD (on-board diagnostics) systems, materials compatibility and fuel efficiency.

The bill would also require an independent panel to evaluate the misfueling mitigation plans approved by the EPA and determine the best methods to prevent consumers from mistakenly using E15 in engines not approved for using the fuel.

The bill must still be approved by the Energy and Commerce Committee before going to the full House.

Read the bill here:

Filed Under: News, Renewable Energy Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Iowa debates livestock facility inspectors

April 15, 2013 By 1 Comment

In Iowa, there’s disagreement between Republicans and Democrats over how many new state employees are needed to inspect livestock facilities in the state.

Under an agreement with the federal EPA, Iowa’s Department of Natural Resources has five years to conduct NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) evaluations on nearly eight-thousand livestock facilities in the state.  Republican Governor Terry Branstad has proposed 500-thousand dollars to fund five new inspectors for the fiscal year beginning July 1st.  But Senate Democrats have voted to hire 13 inspectors.

Senator Dennis Black, a Democrat from Grinnell, warns that, without them, federal inspectors may step in.  And Black says retaining jurisdiction at the state level is important.

“EPA barks once and then they bite—and that was advised to me in a phone call. Whether it was intimidation, whether it was fact, anything else — I could care less,” Black says. “Bottom line is the EPA claims to have drawn the line in the sand and stated: ‘Iowa you will clean up your act. You will see to it that your waters are cleaner.’”

The debate over inspectors is one of hundreds of budget decisions that must be resolved before the 2013 Iowa legislative session concludes.

Radio Iowa contributed to this story.

Filed Under: Events/Organizations, Livestock, News Tagged With: , , , ,

NCBA’s reaction to EPA’s data recall

April 11, 2013 By Leave a Comment

A spokesperson for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) tells Brownfield the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) attempt to recall the CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operation) information it provided to environmental groups “is a little too late”.

“From our perspective, the information was released and it’s still going to be out there in the public domain, no matter what the EPA tries to do,” says NCBA deputy environmental counsel Ashley McDonald.

The EPA is asking the three environmental groups to return the information provided to them under the Freedom of Information Act.  The agency says that information for ten of the 29 states that were part of the release contained some personal data, including individual names, email addresses, phone numbers, personal addresses and facility names.  EPA has now determined that the personal information should not have been disclosed under the FOIA request.  

“We’re glad that EPA took a second look and realized that they should not have released all this information that they did.  We’ve been saying that for two months.  So we’re happy that they actually recognized that,” says McDonald. “But again, our position is basically it’s a little bit too late to actually prevent this information from being out in the public domain.  They should have done their job the first time and they just, frankly, did not.”

AUDIO: Ashley McDonald (6:18 MP3)

Filed Under: Feature Programs, Rural Issues Tagged With: , , , , ,
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