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Ah, spring! That magic time of year when the flowers poke
their heads up through the soil and the redwing blackbird is heard singing from
the tops of trees near wetlands! After several years it seems we can also count on another
predictable annual rite of spring: manure flowing in the streams!! For the
start of the 2006 “spring manure season”, go to http://www.nocafos.org/news.htm --
too bad we don’t have smell-a-vision for a full range of sensory
experiences! As we have found over the years, where someone is watching
pollution problems like these are sometimes caught, but this time of year many discharges
may well not be caught, as DEQ staff have no funds to monitor waterways or even
to respond to all the problems, and in some cases, where the facilities are
under voluntary programs, DEQ staff defer to MDA even on water quality
problems. Meanwhile, in Lansing the manure was flowing pretty freely
as well -- the second hearing was held on the Animal Factory Polluter Bills, HB
5711-5716, which were voted out of the Committee and sent to the House, despite
the hearing starting 2 ½ hours late and running until 7:30 p.m. The first
hearing, held three weeks ago, had three crop farmers who spoke briefly about
the importance of voluntary compliance with environmental laws, then the other
8 people who testified opposed the package of bills, with almost all speaking
from direct experience. Among those who spoke was a woman who with her husband has
lived for fifty years on their turkey farm in Lenawee County, who explained
that 2 ½ years ago they noticed dirt piles across the road. When they learned
a 4000 head hog CAFO was to be built, one that it turns out was told by MDA
that it should not be built in this spot because it was far too close to at
least three homes, this couple and others collected 178 signatures in
opposition, but no one from the state or local government could do anything
about it. Their life has been turned upside down, and they and their neighbors
have no good options -- can’t sell their houses because no one will buy
them, and they can barely stand to live there because of the horrible stench
and noise of squealing hogs. Other testified about consistent water testing
results showing severe pollution from CAFOS, health effects, property values
being destroyed, etc. Last night the CAFO promoters came to testify, including the
Pork Producers, Michigan Milk Producers, the Cattlemen’s Association and
Farm Bureau. Ironically, none of the three who actually have their own
operations who testified have obtained the voluntary certification under the
Michigan Agricultural Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP) that the bills
are supposed to promote (one is in the process). Two of them are too small to
be required to obtain NPDES permits under current regulations unless they have
illegal discharges, and the third has already come under permit but his
experience was being portrayed by Farm Bureau as that of someone who had come
under MAEAP, not under the permit process. Some very important questions were raised by Reps. Mayes, Sheltrown,
Spade and Kathleen Law of the Committee, including set backs from CAFOS, siting
requirements, the conflict between this package and federal Clean Water Act
delegation. Unfortunately, a lot of the answers were not clear or complete, or
were not accurate. Rep. Sheltrown read from a letter submitted by Pete Travis
of Quincy, MI, who had a hog CAFO built 750 feet from his home and is now
extremely ill, on oxygen, and has spent more than $60,000 in legal fees trying
to regain his rights that were lost as a result of the awful, on-going air
pollution from the facility. Sheltrown asked the producers about Mr. Travis’s
experience, and the suggestions were made that this facility might have
predated the voluntary Siting and Odor Generally Accepted Agricultural
Management Practices (GAAMPS) created after the Right to Farm Act in 1999 took
away all local control over agricultural activities of any sort. Then the
Committee Chairman, Rep. Nitz, read the setbacks in the Siting and Odor GAAMPS,
and although the maximum setback in those voluntary standards is 600’ and
only from the largest facilities, with up to 5 houses within a ½ mile radius of
such a facility considered appropriate under the GAAMPs, so that it was clear
that this facility could have been built this close to Mr. Travis’s home
under even the voluntary guidelines, when a couple representatives asked what
we should do to address this kind of problem for Mr. Travis and others in similar
straits, none of the producers or others in the discussion answered that
question. After the producers were given more than an hour to testify,
Sierra Club and MEC were allowed to testify, followed by a citizen and Farmers
Union (who were almost prevented by testifying when the Chair failed to call on
the representative). The hearing became quite testy as several backs and forth
between the Chairman and testifiers ensued, and questions were raised about
whether the locked doors to the House Office Building might have prevented
intended testifiers from making it to the hearing (a question still being
investigated). DEQ answered some questions, and then the Committee voted to
send the bills along to the House. Only Representative Kathleen Law voted
against all the bills, a sure sign of the pressure on the Committee members on
this package. The Chairman suggested that there may be some time taken to
discuss the bills more and possibly consider some amendments, although who will
be involved in those discussions was not discussed. Anne Woiwode, State Director Sierra Club Mackinac ( 517-484-2372 fax 517-484-3108 Enjoy, Explore and Protect - www.michigan.sierraclub.org "We know what to do. We have everything we need
save the political will - which is, after all, a renewable resource. This is
the time. This our moral moment and [I am confident] we will rise to the
occasion." Former Vice President Albert Gore, at the Sierra Club |