WASHINGTON,
D.C., August 6, 2004: The Bush Administration
is expected to announce as early as next week an agreement
with the meat industry that will shield factory farms
from federal air pollution requirements, according to
the Environment Integrity Project (EIP) and the Sierra
Club. Despite making an earlier commitment to allow
public comment on the deal, the Administration is expected
to go forward with the deal with mega-farms without
any input from the public.
Meat industry groups approached the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) in 2002 asking the agency to
shield them from Clean Air Act and Superfund hazardous
waste laws. Bush administration officials then corresponded
in secret with industry lobbyists to craft a deal that
allows the industry to continue polluting without threat
of prosecution, in exchange for a commitment from factory
farms to study the problem for a number of years. The
agreement with the meat industry was drafted without
consulting those who suffer from the pollution caused
by large livestock operations, and with only minimal
input from the scientific and environmental communities.
Relying on leaked drafts and documents that were obtained
under open records laws, a variety of concerned parties
have told EPA that they object to the deal because of
the lack of public participation in the process to date,
the sweeping nature of the liability shield, and the
scientific flaws in the monitoring program.
Sources inside EPA say that the agency now is finalizing
the deal, possibly without seeking public comment --
a move that breaks a written promise made to Congress
in October 2003. Using a closed process involving only
the industry, the new EPA agreement is another example
of the Bush Administration letting polluters write the
rules while leaving the public out of the process.
The deal with the livestock industry will put many
communities at risk. The American Public Health Association
and the National Academy of Sciences have stated that
pollution from massive animal factories jeopardizes
public health in rural communities across the nation.
Bearing no resemblance to the traditional family farm,
these facilities pack thousands of animals into small
spaces, produce as much waste as a small city, and spew
toxic gases and other pollutants into the air. Livestock
production is the single largest contributor of ammonia
gas release in the United States, and giant animal factories
also emit hydrogen sulfide and fine dust particles—both
of which are linked to respiratory illness —in
dangerous quantities.
For more information on factory farm pollution, go
to:
http://www.sierraclub.org/factoryfarms/
and
http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/page31.cfm. |
