Stream brown with livestock waste from nearby factory farm
BY STACY JAMES
Prairie Rivers Network works with partners across the state to reduce water pollution from factory farms. Livestock waste pollutes Illinois’ water with disease-causing bacteria, antibiotics, ammonia, nitrates and algae blooms. In the most egregious cases, streams turn brown with raw sewage that kills all wildlife inhabitants. Pollution happens when waste storage structures leak or spill, a far too common occurrence that often goes undetected until there is a fish kill. Another way that streams become polluted is when too much manure is applied to farm fields as fertilizer and rain or melting snow carries the waste into nearby streams.
Factory farms are one of the least-regulated sources of pollution. Some regulations exist but they do not require adequately stringent manure management practices. State government is also underfunded to inspect factory farms and prevent problems from happening in the first place.
Consequently, we are seeking changes at the state level that would make a significant impact on Illinois’ rivers. We are focused on strengthening the rules that govern factory farms, and increasing the revenue available to the Illinois EPA for inspections. Fortunately, these efforts are proving fruitful, and we have made new allies along the way.
2 Steps Toward Cleaner Water
After two years of advocating for rule changes that would require more responsible livestock waste management, the Illinois EPA adopted several of our recommendations! The draft rules limit how much manure and liquid waste can be applied to farm fields. Applicators will be prohibited from applying waste close to ditches and other conduits that lead to streams. And the waste storage capacity requirements will be increased, so that overflows and untimely land application are less likely to occur. {Continue Reading »}
Justice has finally been served in Iroquois County! In 2009, over 110,000 fish were killed after the R3E hog operation illegally discharged some 200,000 gallons of waste into a tributary of Spring Creek. The waste had been stored in holding ponds, but got into an underground pipe system that flows into the tributary.
Earlier this week, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office issued a press release stating that R3E will be paying over $80,000 to the State as a penalty for the discharge. $17,500 will go to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, which conducted inspections of the facility and stream. $63,782 will go to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for the value of the aquatic life destroyed by the discharge. The Attorney General’s Office continues to work with R3E on restoring the stream. This is welcome news because it costs the State (and taxpayers) a huge amount of money to investigate and prosecute illegal discharges.
Now that R3E has discharged, they are considered a discharger and will be issued a NPDES wastewater permit by Illinois EPA. The permit prohibits the facility from discharging except during unusually heavy rains.
In an editorial published in last Friday’s Los Angeles Times, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Lisa Jackson called on U.S. Representatives to stop their unrelenting assault on our nation’s landmark environmental laws, including “an unprecedented rollback of the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and our nation’s waste-disposal laws, all of which have successfully protected our families for decades.” (Read this excellent article, “‘Too Dirty to Fail’?” here).
Jackson lambastes the myth that protecting the environment and public health hurts the economy, calling it “a choice that’s been proved wrong for the four decades that the EPA has been in existence. No credible economist links our current economic crisis — or any economic crisis — to tough clean-air and clean-water standards.”
In today’s anti-environment climate in Washington and here in Illinois, clean air and clean water have become more politicized than ever. That’s why we need YOU to participate in the public process. In the next days and weeks you’ll hear more from us about how to get in touch with agency officials and your legislators to let them know that you support strong protections for clean water, including:
- Ask Illinois EPA to deny permits that would allow a coal fired power plant to dump more mercury into the Illinois River, and that would allow a strip mine to open upstream of Canton Lake, a drinking water and recreational resource for over 20,000 residents of Fulton County.
- Urge your Senators to vote against legislation that would strip EPA of its ability to protect clean water from toxic coal ash. Less than a week after the U.S. House passed H.R. 2377, an identical bill was introduced in the Senate. Like H.R. 2273, the Senate bill seeks to eliminate the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to ensure that storage and disposal of coal ash waste protects the health of our rivers and communities. Not yet numbered, leading champions for the bill are U.S. Senators John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), and John Boozman (R-Ark.). Like the House version, the Senate bill lacks common sense safeguards that would protect communities from irresponsible coal ash dumping, and leave regulations up to the states. As the bill moves through the Senate, we will need your help to block or defeat it, and will let you know how best to make your concerns loud and clear.
In August 2011, Stacy James, Prairie Rivers Network’s specialist on agricultural pollution, attended a public informational meeting on a proposed 18,000-head hog farm called Shamrock Acres. The meeting was hosted by the Illinois Department of Agriculture and presentations were made by the applicant, his engineer, and a representative from the Illinois Livestock Development Group. During this meeting, Stacy became so disgusted by some of the livestock industry members’ dismissive attitudes toward the people who have to live around their operations, that she was compelled to write and submit a fairly scathing opinion piece on the topic. We thank the Springfield State Journal-Register for publishing this piece. And we continue to advocate for industry standards that respect local residents.
Residents voice concerns about the proposed hog confinement at public informational meeting
In early June 2011, Prairie Rivers Network was contacted by a McDonough County resident facing the prospect of soon becoming the unwilling neighbor of 18,000 hogs. He was calling for help because he feared the air, streams, and wells in his rural community would become polluted by a proposed hog farm called Shamrock Acres. He was not alone in his fears; dozens of others shared his concerns and had banded together to form Rural Residents for Responsible Agriculture.
During June and July, we worked with Rural Residents, Illinois Citizens for Clean Air & Water, and Environment Illinois to strategize our opposition to the factory farm. Prairie Rivers Network was compelled to action because the applicant has a history of environmental violations: Illinois should not allow bad actors to construct more factory farms at the expense of public and environmental health. {Continue Reading »}
After months of intense activity, the Illinois General Assembly’s spring session came to a screeching halt May 31, 2011. Prairie Rivers Network and our colleagues worked until the end to pass S.B. 1682, a bill that would establish a permit fee for livestock operations that discharge pollution into a river or stream. Unfortunately, legislator absences prevented the bill from being called to a vote in the House.
Earlier in May, the bill had easily passed out of the Executive Committee on a 9-2 vote. But opponents of the bill distracted legislators from the core issue at hand by calling into question the need for permits. The political sway and lobbying power of agribusiness was evident.
We will continue working on this issue. It is completely fair for livestock operations to pay fees for their permits just like all other polluters. This bill came into being because Prairie Rivers Network was appalled to find out that livestock operations have this unique exemption. Illinois EPA needs fee income to cover the cost of their Clean Water Act regulatory program for confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs or “factory farms”). A fee exemption is no longer appropriate now that over 28 operations have permits. As Illinois EPA discovers more livestock operations that discharge pollution, the associated regulatory burden is likely to grow in the coming years.
Prairie Rivers Network would like to thank the following organizations for working with us on this bill: Environment Illinois, Illinois Citizens for Clean Air & Water, Illinois Environmental Council, and Environmental Law & Policy Center. Max Muller of Environment Illinois led the lobbying effort and spent countless hours talking with legislators and other organizations about the bill. In addition, the bill was supported by Illinois EPA, Illinois Association of Wastewater Agencies, Sierra Club, Food & Water Watch, Faith in Place, and Illinois Stewardship Alliance. One of our most important allies in this effort were the citizen members of Prairie Rivers Network and the above organizations who took the time to call their legislators. And finally, we want to thank the bill sponsor, Representative Michael Tryon of Crystal Lake, and co-sponsors (Cole, Gabel, Biss, Davis, May, Jakobsson, Cassidy, Currie).
