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….and also read this and the rest of Part 31 of the Michigan Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act:
“324.3109 Discharge into state waters; prohibitions; exception; violation; penalties; abatement.
Sec. 3109. (1) A person shall not directly or indirectly discharge into the waters of the state a substance that is or may become injurious to any of the following: (a) To the public health, safety, or welfare.
b) To domestic, commercial, industrial, agricultural, recreational, or other uses that are being made or maybe made of such waters.
(c) To the value or utility of riparian lands.
(d) To livestock, wild animals, birds, fish, aquatic life, or plants or to their growth or propagation.
(e) To the value of fish and game…”
Liquid manure applications to tiled fields, such as those mentioned in the article, which drain into waters of the State, are nothing more than an indirect discharge into waters of the State…pure and simple. That’s not “rocket science” either.
Since there are only about 68 days until the election, maybe it would help if everyone would write Attorney General Cox, Governor Granholm, and Director Chester a letter and ask what they are doing about it. Also read the DeVos website where he pledges to “turn around” Michigan agriculture by reducing all of the heavy-handed, top-down regulatory control of the DNR and DEQ (sic) and rely on voluntary incentives for pollution prevention. The 14-page document is here:
http://www.devosforgovernor.com/Media/TurnAroundPlan/TheMichiganTurnaroundPlan-Ag.pdf
Scary stuff.
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Thomas K. Rohrer, Asst. Prof. & Director Environmental Studies Program 318 Brooks Hall Central Michigan University Mt. Pleasant MI 48859 U. S. A.
Ph. (989) 774-4409 email = tom.rohrer@cmich.edu
CMU Environmental Studies Program information is available at:
http://www.cst.cmich.edu/units/env/
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world: indeed it is the only thing that ever has! -- Margaret Meade
“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though sometimes checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much.....because they live in that gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.” ~~ Teddy Roosevelt
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸ ><((((((º> From:
owner-enviro-mich@great-lakes.net [mailto:owner-enviro-mich@great-lakes.net] On Behalf Of Anne Woiwode
I want to encourage folks to read this article. David Green has done excellent reporting on some of the more arcane but crucial issues associated with CAFOs, clearly responding to what he observes in his community where a number of CAFOs are operating and raising significant public concern.
Anne Woiwode, State Director Sierra Club Mackinac (Michigan) Chapter From:
owner-enviro-mich@great-lakes.net [mailto:owner-enviro-mich@great-lakes.net] On Behalf Of Janet Kauffman
Article this week in The State Line Observer (Morenci, Mich., and Fayette, Ohio) --on a presentation by Frank Gibbs, USDA-NRCS, at an ag field day in Lenawee County.http://statelineobserver.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=309&Itemid=43 -snip-By DAVID GREENDon’t blame tile lines for discharges of liquid manure into drains, says soil scientist and farmer Frank Gibbs, and don’t blame the rich soil with its worm holes leading to the tile. Put the blame on the watered down
manure.... |