WASHINGTON,
D.C., June 1, 2005: Four organizations –
the Environmental Integrity Project, Sierra Club, Iowa
Citizens for Community Improvement and the Association
of Irritated Residents – released the following
statement today:
“Acting on behalf of tens of thousands of family
farmers and rural residents, our organizations have
been forced to file a lawsuit in the D.C. Circuit Court
of Appeals to challenge the sweetheart deal under which
the Bush administration has abandoned America’s
rural communities, leaving them to suffer dangerous
factory farm pollution without any hope of relief.
The lawsuit filed on May 26, 2005 challenges the deal
struck between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) and the livestock industry allowing factory farms
across the country to continue polluting the air without
threat of prosecution by EPA, in exchange for a commitment
from a handful of concentrated animal feeding operations
(CAFOs) to study the problem for a number of years.
The agreement with the meat and milk industry was drafted
without consulting those who suffer from the pollution
caused by large livestock operations, and with only
minimal input from the scientific and environmental
communities. We object to the sweetheart deal because
of the sweeping nature of the purported liability shield,
the scientific flaws in the monitoring program, and
the lack of public participation in the process to date
among other concerns.
The deal with the livestock industry will put many
communities at risk. The American Public Health Association
and the National Academy of Sciences have stated that
pollution from massive animal factories jeopardizes
public health in rural communities across the nation.
Bearing no resemblance to the traditional family farm,
these facilities pack thousands of animals into small
spaces, produce as much waste as a small city, and spew
toxic gases and other pollutants into the air. Livestock
production is the single largest contributor of ammonia
gas release in the United States (ammonia is both a
toxic gas and a fine particulate matter precursor),
and giant animal factories also emit hydrogen sulfide,
volatile organic compounds (smog precursors), and fine
dust particles—all of which are linked to respiratory
illness—in dangerous quantities.
In addition to jeopardizing public health and the environment,
the Bush administration's deal undermines efforts by
states like Iowa and California that are working to
address the CAFO air pollution problem. EPA’s
notice of the agreement, published in the Federal Register
on January 31, 2005, purports to strip citizens of their
rights to hold polluters accountable under federal clean
air laws.
This agreement is just wrong in so many ways. Family
farmers and rural residents are suffering the impacts
of factory farm air pollution. We need the EPA to protect
our health and well being instead of giving factory
farms immunity.
EPA should use its existing legal authority to gather
emissions data and to enforce clean air laws. Furthermore,
there should be a moratorium on new or expanding CAFOs
until EPA can gather the emissions data it says it still
needs to quantify harmful air emissions from factory
farms.
We are open to working with all stakeholders to lessen
air pollution from factory farms. However, we were forced
to file the lawsuit to preserve our legal options because
the Bush administration has failed to make meaningful
progress in cleaning up factory farm pollution.”
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