Factory Farm Issues

Clean Water Network
1200 New York Avenue, NW
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-289-2395
Fax: 202-289-1060
E-mail: cleanwaternt@igc.org

Factory Farms Campaign

Today’s large livestock operations look more like animal factories than animal farms. The scale of factory farms is so great that enormous quantities of excess manure are now being spread on farmlands, posing threats to drinking water and fisheries. Nationally, feedlots that hold animals in close quarters are a leading source of pollution. Twenty-six percent of the river and stream miles impaired by agricultural sources are degrades by feedlot pollution. Locally, spills and leakage from the manure lagoons, (cesspools) of factory farms can cause fish kills, red tides, and threats to waterways used for recreation and drinking. Just from June through September of 1995, nearly 30 million gallons of manure and urine killed at least 200,000 fish in 13 separate spills in North Caroline, Iowa, Minnesota, and Missouri. CWN feedlots activists work together to strengthen federal water pollution standards for factory farms and support strong federal legislation.

Current Feedlot Issues

October 26, 2001-EPA SETTLEMENT SETS MODEL FOR WASTE LAGOON AIR ENFORCEMENT. Click here to see article printed in Inside EPA.

On July 5, 2001, EPA issued a general National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for Combined Animal Feeding Operations in Arizona. To view the permit click here.

CAFO bill introduced by Rep. Nick Smith (MI) on March 21, 2001which is an amendment to section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act-H.R. 1138 click here to search for the details of this bill on Thomas. To view a letter by Network members sent to Representatives of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee click here.

Under the terms of a judicial consent decree between the Agency and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the final rule must be signed by December 15, 2002, so EPA cannot on its own delay the final rule. Click here.

January 12, 2001: The proposed CAFO rules were published in the Federal Register. Click here to go to EPA's website for the supporting documents. This website has the following documents: Development Document, Cost Methodology Report for Swine and Poultry Sectors, Cost Methodology Report for Beef and Dairy Animal Feeding Operations, Economic Analysis, Environmental and Economic Benefit Analysis, Environmental Assessment, and Managing Manure Nutrients at Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations: Draft Guidance.

December 16, 2000: Wall Street Journal article on EPA's proposed CAFO rules. Click here.

Cesspools of Shame is an NRDC report that examines the waste practices of factory farms and their impacts on human and environmental health. To view the report click here. To view the press release click here.

The Price We Pay for Corporate Hogs -- Among other issues, this report released by the
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy deals with possible human health and ecological impacts related to raising hogs in a confined feedlot environment. Click here to review the report.

September 20, 2000: Clean Water Network, Izaak Walton League and NRDC release their report, SPILLS AND KILLS. This report find factory farm pollution is killing millions of fish. Click here to view report (and press release from NRDC).

December 14, 1999: Clean Water Networkand the Izaak Walton League released their joint report, SPILLING SWILL: A Survey of Factory Farm Water Pollution in 1999. Spilling Swill surveys water pollution problems caused by factory farms in ten states during 1999. The manure spills, illegal dumping, and other violations seen at factory farms demonstrate that lagoons and other "technologies" used at factory farms are not working and threaten public health, wildlife, and the quality of our rivers, lakes and coastal waters. To see the press release, click here. To see the report, click on the following in PDF format: Cover Page; Acknowledgements; Report (including Introduction and Recommendations; Endnotes. (For a copy of this report, please send $5.00 to: Clean Water Network, 1200 New York Avenue, N.W., Suite 400, Washington, DC 20005. Please make checks payable to NRDC in U.S. dollars only.)

Clean Water Network/NRDC report, America's Animal Factories: How States Fail to Prevent Pollution from Livestock Waste. For a text version, click here. For PDF version, click on the following for each section:
PDF -- Title page, Acknowledgments, Table of Contents, Introduction and Executive Summary
PDF -- Chapters 1-32
PDF -- Endnotes

The Time to Act Campaign, a coalition of family farm organizations and others are working to implement the recommendations of the USDA's Small Farms Commission report, A Time to Act. The group has released a video which features a low-cost, environmental sound, family farm production. Click here for more details.

Fact sheets on feedlots issues -- click here.
Meat products that are good for the environment and your taste buds -- consider sustainable and humanely raised meat products. Click on the turkey to read more about it.
Help support family farmers and a cleaner environment. Here's a way to do it during the holidays and all year long! Click on the ham to read how.
If you witness or hear about a fish kill, please notify the Clean Water Network! We are tracking the kills and getting the word out to decision-makers, the media, and the public. Use our form and return it to the address listed below or fax to 202-289-1060. Click here for the text version of the form; for PDF version, click here.

For more information on feedlots issues, contact Melanie Flynn, NRDC, phone: 202-289-2393, or email: mflynn@nrdc.org.