The U.S. EPA is proposing new rules to control pollution at large-scalelivestock farms. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jonathan Ahlreports some activist groups say the restrictions don’t go far enough:
Transcript
The US EPA is proposing new rules to control pollution at large scale livestock farms. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jonathan Ahl reports some activist groups say the restrictions don’t go far enough.
The proposed rules include requiring companies to be held accountable for cleaning up waste spills. They would also put limits on spraying animal waste onto farm fields. But some environmentalists are calling the rules grossly inadequate. Karen Hudson is the President of the Illinois based Families Against Rural Messes.
“There are still many loopholes that remain, and as a grass roots
person who is experiencing factory farms near my home I’m seeing that the water quality problems and the air quality problems are not being addressed.”
Hudson says the EPA rules do nothing to phase out storing waste in large open-air lagoons. She also says they do not address the release of airborne particles that can cause disease. The EPA will take public comment on the proposed rules until the middle of April. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Jonathan Ahl.