Will This Lawsuit Curb Extreme Air Pollution From Factory Farms?

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from Civil Eats:


Will This Lawsuit Curb Extreme Air Pollution From Factory Farms?
Environmental groups are asking the EPA to step up regulations.

By Elizabeth Grossman on January 30, 2015


There are about 20,000 factory farms in the United States and together they produce more than 500 million tons—or 1 trillion pounds—of manure. These farms, also called concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), altogether house billions of chickens, dairy cows, hogs, and other livestock. The waste from these animals adds up to more than three times the raw sewage produced by people in the U.S. and it emits significant amounts of harmful air pollutants [PDF] that include ammonia, methane, hydrogen sulfide, particulate matter, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

“I’m certain it’s affecting our health,” said Rosie Partridge, an Iowa farmer and member of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, who describes a “choking smell of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia” emanating from the industrial hog farm that moved in across the road.

Partridge is one of many rural residents and farmers who say their health and quality of life are being adversely affected by these farms. Now, a coalition of environmental groups that includes the Environmental Integrity Project, Friends of the Earth, the Humane Society of the United States, Center for Food Safety, and the Sierra Club, has stepped in on their behalf.

As the groups (and the Congressional Research Service) explain, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not comprehensively regulate the air pollution coming from large livestock operations. But that’s what the groups are asking the EPA to do in two lawsuits filed Wednesday in federal court in Washington, DC. ..................(more)

- See more at: http://civileats.com/2015/01/30/environmental-groups-to-epa-curb-factory-farm-air-pollution/#sthash.RuY0H0gp.dpuf