WASHINGTON, DC, November 3, 2008 (ENS) – The Bush administration finalized a rule Friday that allows more than 15,000 factory farms across the country to avoid certain requirements of the Clean Water Act if they claim they do not discharge animal wastes into lakes, rivers and streams.

Federal officials said the rule will help protect water quality and ensure safe disposal of manure, but environmentalists contend it does neither and lets some of the nation’s largest polluters police themselves.

“The rule makes it much harder for the long-suffering neighbors of factory farms to challenge operations that pollute their rivers and streams by holding them accountable under the Clean Water Act.”

The rule affects concentrated animal feeding operations, CAFOs, which annually produce some 500 million tons of animal waste from cattle, pigs and poultry.

Beef cattle on a factory farm (Photo
courtesy FactoryFarm.org)

CAFOs store waste in massive open-air lagoons or dispose of it on land.

Spills and runoff of the waste, laden with the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorous, can contaminate drinking water supplies, kill fish and spread disease.

The regulation affects compliance with the Clean Water Act’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, NPDES, permitting requirements.

It calls on CAFOs that discharge or plan to discharge wastes into waterways to apply for an NPDES permit and to complete a nutrient management plan as part of their application.

Those who do not believe they need a permit will not need to apply for one.

The public will be allowed to review permit applications and nutrient management plans, according to Ben Grumbles, assistant U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator for water.

Grumbles said the new rule “sets a strong national standard for pollution prevention and environmental protection” while ensuring the industry remains economically viable.

The EPA estimates that the new rule will prevent 56 million pounds of phosphorus, 110 million pounds of nitrogen, and two billion pounds of sediment from entering streams, lakes, and other waters annually.

The agency said it is also providing an opportunity for CAFO operators who do not believe they need an NPDES permit “to show their commitment to pollution prevention by obtaining certification as zero dischargers.”

But what that exactly means remains unclear.

EPA, for example, did not explain whether enforcement actions would be taken against operators who decided they don’t need permits, but fail to achieve such certification.

The rule was released late Friday and officials were not available for comment. The EPA says the final rule will be published in the Federal Register at a later date.

Jeffrey Odefey, staff attorney at the Waterkeeper Alliance, called the rule “an unworkable muddle” that fails to offer “meaningful protection of our nation’s waters and communities.”

Whitetail Hog Facility in Missouri uses 20
million gallon manure lagoons. Each
group of nine barns is called a site;
each site houses 8,832 hogs. (Photo
courtesy FactoryFarm.org)

But industry groups contend the rule effectively sets a “zero-discharge” standard for all livestock operations.

“With or without a permit, swine operations that are not well managed and have discharges are facing severe penalties,” said Michael Formica, environmental policy counsel for the National Pork Producer Council. “These rules really raise the water quality bar for us, but despite this challenge, producers are going to make this rule work.”

Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau, echoed that view.

“A positive aspect is that livestock farmers will have flexibility to evaluate their farm and determine whether or not to secure a permit,” Stallman said. “Regardless of the farmer’s decision, there is no doubt they will have to meet challenging environmental standards.”

Environmentalists are far from convinced.

The voluntary decision as to whether an NPDES permit is needed “would not be reviewable by federal or state authorities under the final rule,” according to Eric Schaeffer, director of the Environmental Integrity Project and a former EPA enforcement official.

The regulation “literally puts the foxes in charge of their gigantic henhouses, as well as hog and dairy confinement operations,” he warned.

The EPA said the rule responds to a 2005 court decision that rejected a 2003 regulation developed to tackle the same issue.

The court found the 2003 regulation failed to ensure that factory farms would be held accountable for discharging animal wastes into the
nation’s waters. It also called on the EPA to remove the requirement that all CAFOs apply for NPDES permits.

But the court’s ruling, Schaeffer said, did not mean EPA needed to hand authority over to the industry to make permitting decisions. “The court and the law provide the EPA with the tools to determine which animal confinements are likely to pollute and therefore require permits.”

By J.R. Pegg

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BOSTON, Massachusetts, May 19, 2008 (ENS) – The Suffolk Downs, New England’s preeminent thoroughbred racing venue in East Boston, has been ordered to take immediate action to reduce pollutants being discharged to Sales Creek, a tributary to Boston Harbor.

According to the U.S. EPA, Suffolk Downs is violating the federal Clean Water Act due to horse manure, urine, bedding material, and stable wash water that are entering the waterways through stormwater runoff.

The action is specifically an Administrative Order that the EPA has issued to the Sterling Suffolk Racecourse, LLC, requiring it to immediately make all practicable efforts to cease discharging pollutants to its storm drain system and Sales Creek.

The EPA order requires Suffolk to routinely inspect its facility for discharges to Sales Creek and the adjacent wetland and to collect a limited number of dry-weather and wet-weather samples from its outfalls.

The starting gate at Suffolk Downs
(Photo by Elizabeth Alcinoe)

“It’s very important that all citizens and organizations understand and comply with environmental laws, which are designed to protect the health of people and the environment,” said Robert Varney, regional administrator of EPA’s New England Office.

“EPA and our partners have invested a lot of time and effort in improving water quality in the Boston area, in the Charles River, in Boston Harbor and in the Mystic River,” Varney said. “This action reflects our commitment to a clean and healthy environment.”

The EPA order also requires Suffolk to submit an application for the appropriate discharge permit from the EPA. The race track needs a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, NPDES, permit for a concentrated animal feeding operation, or CAFO.

This type of permit usually applies to facilities holding large numbers of animals for food production, but in this case, the EPA has determined that Suffolk Downs requires a CAFO permit.

In response to an information request and on-site inspections by EPA dating back to 2006, EPA has determined that more than 500 horses have been stabled at the facility for more than 45 days per year.

Suffolk reported that the facility discharges to Sales Creek and an adjacent wetland through several outfalls and two drainage swales. Consequently, Suffolk Downs is a concentrated animal feeding operation and needs an NPDES permit for any discharges to waters of the United States, such as Sales Creek.

EPA inspections have revealed that horse and stable wash water have been discharged repeatedly to the facility’s storm drain system during dry-weather.

EPA inspectors observed stormwater contaminated with manure wastes and highly turbid, brown runoff being discharged from the facility to Sales Creek.

Sampling conducted at various outfalls discharging from Suffolk Downs indicates elevated ammonia, surfactant, suspended solids, biological oxygen demand, and bacterial concentrations being discharged to Sales Creek in both dry and wet weather.

Suffolk is required to develop and submit a plan for interim measures to eliminate or reduce to the maximum extent possible the discharge of pollutants until the required CAFO permit is issued to the facility.

Founded in 1935, Suffolk Downs has hosted Hall of Fame horses Seabiscuit, Whirlaway and Cigar, among others.

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FORT WAYNE, Indiana, January 2, 2008 (ENS) – The City of Fort Wayne, Indiana has agreed to make an estimated $250 million worth of improvements to resolve longstanding problems with overflows from its sewer system, the U.S. Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency announced late last week.

The improvements are expected to reduce the volume of Fort Wayne’s untreated combined sewer overflow discharges by 900 million gallons in an average year.

The city’s sewer system, which serves 220,000 people, transports sewage for treatment at a wastewater treatment plant before discharging it into area rivers and streams.

But an average of 60 overflows each year from the city’s collection system discharge raw sewage directly into rivers and streams and are a major source of water pollution.

The Justice Department says these discharges violate the Clean Water Act because they exceed limitations and conditions in the city’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits or are otherwise unpermitted.

Other violations by Fort Wayne are also alleged, including the failure to comply with monitoring and reporting requirements of its permit and the failure to meet effluent limitations at the pipe leading from the city’s wastewater treatment plant.

The improvements to the city’s sewer system are expected to reduce the number of overflows to about one per year on the St. Joseph River and four per year on the St. Mary’s and Maumee Rivers.

In addition, the city will pay a penalty of $538,380, which will be divided evenly between the United States and the state of Indiana.

The city also has agreed to spend $400,000 on a supplemental environmental project to eliminate failing septic systems, and the city can reduce the portion of the penalty to be paid to the state by undertaking further reductions in the number of failing septic systems.

“With today’s consent decree, the City of Fort Wayne is taking an important step toward complying with the Clean Water Act,” said Ronald Tenpas, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, announcing the agreement on December 28, 2007.

“We are pleased that we have reached a resolution to these matters, and that the city has agreed to make the necessary improvements and committed funds to ensure significant improvements to reduce untreated sewer discharges,” Tenpas said.

“EPA is very pleased that in this agreement Fort Wayne has committed to getting rid of longstanding sewerage problems,” said EPA Regional Administrator Mary Gade.

“The city is making a major investment in improvements to its sewerage system that will pay off in better protection of public health and cleaner rivers,” she said. “The St. Joseph, St. Mary’s and Maumee Rivers in particular will benefit from the new controls.”

Lodged in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, the consent decree will be subject to a 30-day public comment period and subsequent judicial approval. It is on the Justice Department website at www.usdoj.gov.

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