Sierra Club
Redwood Chapter Newsletter
|
Bush Watch: A Stinky Deal Allison Fisher | |
|
Once again, the Bush administration is allowing industry to write its own rules. This time, it's the livestock industry. For two years, EPA has worked behind closed doors with livestock industry representatives to develop a program to exempt factory farms from air pollution control laws. Factory farms emit dangerous amounts of noxious gas, which endanger our public health. The largest amount of ammonia emissions in the United States, about 73%, comes from the livestock sector. Ammonia and other livestock emissions, such as hydrogen sulfide, can cause severe health problems such as seizures, respiratory problems (bronchitis and asthma), and even death. Yet, the Bush administration's proposed program is a sweetheart deal which will do nothing to decrease emissions. Under the proposed deal, livestock operations that sign up for a two-year monitoring program will be exempt from federal air pollution enforcement during that time. Furthermore, EPA will forgive past violations of federal air pollution laws. Farms will contribute $3,500 to the cost of the monitoring program and only 28 farms will be selected for monitoring. According to the proposal, after the two years the EPA will have sufficient data to establish permanent air emissions standards. Establishing new rules, however, could require much more time, allowing these facilities to continue to threaten their neighbors' health with dirty air. |
"We cannot allow the Bush Administration to let the livestock industry get away with polluting our air and endangering our public health," said Barclay Rogers, a lawyer for the Sierra Club. "New factory farms should not be allowed to be built and those that exist should have to follow already existing laws to save lives." The EPA maintains that they created this new program jointly with the farm industry. However, internal documents show that the farm industry proposed this program to the EPA and has been pushing for its implementation for the last two years. Sylvia Lowrance, a former EPA deputy administrator of enforcement, quit in frustration because of the livestock lobby's influence. In response to EPA's actions under the Bush Administration, the Sierra Club has called for a moratorium on the creation and expansion of factory farms as well as enforcement of all existing laws, including the Clean Air Act, which would protect those who suffer from factory farm pollution. |