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The announcement by the Michigan DEQ Water Bureau that they
have issued NPDES permits to the Waldron Dairy CAFO and the Bustdorf Dairy CAFO
was a disturbing development in these long fought permit battles. Most
troubling was that the final permits issued were dramatically changed and
included novel new provisions that have never been subject to public scrutiny
either through draft NPDES permits or proposed regulations. It appears that
DEQ screwed up by failing to understand their apparently well-intentioned “fixes”
in these permits may in fact cause many new unanticipated problems that the
public should have had a chance to comment on. In particular, the permits both require 12 months worth of CAFO
waste storage be available at these CAFOs. What’s wrong with this
picture? More storage does not mean that there is any treatment of the
waste, and in fact will result in even worse problems than the current
requirements for six months storage at each facility. Untreated wastes
will be accumulated in an even larger amount, in larger lagoons, with no
attention to air emissions from lagoons nor from the application of these
putrid, fermented wastes onto farm fields. The CAFOs will be required to
clear only 6 months worth of storage room out of the 12 month lagoons in
Nov-Dec each year, meaning that the wastes in the bottom of these storage
structures could sit for years, concentrating pollutants and potentially
leaking to groundwater through the clay liners required for these facilities. It
will be quite conceivable that a CAFO could be emptied of animals and STILL
have a year’s worth of waste applications in their lagoons. We and I am sure many others are scrutinizing these new
permits now, and I’m afraid we expect to find many other similar
problems. Unfortunately, with the issuance of the permits as opposed to
seeking additional comment on these changes, the DEQ has taken away the public’s
forum to review and comment without going through legal challenges. Anne Woiwode ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anne Woiwode, State Director Sierra Club ph: 517-484-2372 web: www.michigan.sierraclub.org
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