After the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did not respond to a petition filed by a coalition of conservation groups asking for stronger clean water rules on what they call “factory farms,” the groups have now filed suit.
In the Oct. 7 suit filed in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the coalition requests a formal response from the EPA on its “lax regulation of the industry’s pollution,” referring to concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs).
“Industrial facilities discharging pollution into our waterways are subject to stringent limits that reflect the best available technology and protect water quality. Unless they are industrial animal production facilities,” said Environmental Integrity Project, one of the petition filers.
“CAFOs have received special treatment for far too long, and it’s time for EPA to apply the law fairly to all polluting industries.”
In 2017, a collection of over 30 conservation and environmental groups filed a rule-making petition, alleging the EPA failed to protect waterways and communities. The groups now say the EPA’s failure to respond is a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. The petitioners claim that EPA’s delay is “perpetuating the ongoing harm” that CAFOs inflict on the groups, their members and communities across the U.S.
“EPA’s repeated refusal to regulate CAFO pollution demonstrates it likely will not act of its own accord,” the groups wrote in their suit. “EPA has violated its duty to timely respond to the petition, and its egregious delay warrants this court’s intervention.”
The petition calls for the EPA to take a final action in response to their 2017 petition and to respond within 90 days.
Background
The groups allege that CAFOs should be required to follow discharge permits that restrict pollution discharges into rivers and streams, but “due to the EPA’s weak regulations, only a small fraction of CAFOs have the required permits.” The petitioners also claim the permits that are given are “weak” and “inadequately protective of water quality.” Because of this, the groups say the EPA’s approach has led to “widespread factory farm pollution” across the U.S.
In their 2017 petition, the environmentalists laid out their own road map for EPA to make permits stronger. The road map included requiring large corporate integrators that control CAFO practices to obtain permits, as opposed to only contract producers. The road map also asked for permits to be strengthened by requiring pollution monitoring and reporting, restricting waste disposal, and regulating CAFO discharges for a wider range of pollutants than permits currently address.
Dodge County Concerned Citizens, another petitioner, used the example of a family farm situated at the headwaters of the Cedar River in southern Minnesota. The group claims the farm has never applied manure from surrounding swine CAFOs on their land, but the waste has “severely harmed the environment and quality of life in the local community.”
The suit was filed by Food & Water Watch, Center for Food Safety, Dakota Rural Action, Dodge County Concerned Citizens, Environmental Integrity Project, Helping Others Maintain Environmental Standards, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, Kewaunee CARES, Midwest Environmental Advocates and North Carolina Environmental Justice Network. — Anna Miller, WLJ managing editor
