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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Threats to Public Health and Environment from Industrial Animal Agriculture Wastes
  • Date: Thu, 01 May 2008 21:21:54 -0600


"In one recent example, farm animal run-off from IFAP facilities was among
the suspected causes of a 2006 E. coli outbreak in which 6 people died and
more than 250 were sickened."

Expert Panel Highlights Threats to Public Health and Environment from
Industrial Animal Agriculture Wastes
http://www.ncifap.org/
Panelists Warn Current Waste Management Practices Are Often Insufficient

(Washington, DC- Feb. 29, 2008) – As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) considers lifting a requirement that industrial farming facilities
report their toxic gas emissions, a panel of experts today told Congress that
the vast amounts of animal waste and byproducts from such facilities pose
significant risks to human health and the environment, requiring greater –
not lesser – scrutiny.

Members of the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production (PCIFAP)
said the traditional methods used to dispose of animal waste are often
insufficient to deal with the amount of waste generated by the high-volume
industrial facilities that today produce food products for much of the
nation. The waste run-off from these facilities can contaminate groundwater
and drinking water supplies, and the toxic gas emissions can be harmful – and
even fatal – to farm workers and surrounding communities.

As the production of meat, poultry, milk and eggs has become more
concentrated, so too have the by-products of that production. Industrial food
animal production (IFAP) facilities often house thousands to tens of
thousands of animals in confined areas, producing large quantities of
concentrated fecal matter and other wastes. The hundreds of thousands of
gallons of manure from dairy cows and pigs are often stored in liquid form
and held in large tanks or outdoor lagoons, until it can be sprayed or spread
onto nearby fields, or pumped into the ground.

If left to the age-old methods of disposal, these extremely concentrated
wastes can quickly overwhelm the ecosystem’s ability to deal with them,
resulting in severe environmental degradation. The nitrogen that is
naturally found in animal wastes can, in the proper amounts, serve as an
effective fertilizer. But in the excessive quantities generated in IFAP
conditions, nitrogen can lead to ground and surface water contamination and
ecosystem depletion. Today, over a million people are estimated to take
their drinking water from groundwater showing moderate or severe
contamination with nitrogen-containing pollutants stemming in part from high
rates of application of animal waste.

Conditions and waste management methods common to IFAP facilities can also
produce emissions of harmful gases such as ammonia and hydrogen sulfide.
Many of these compounds are known to be toxic to the nervous system in
sufficient concentration, and can cause respiratory symptoms, disease and
impaired function. Releases of toxic fumes resulting from certain waste
disposal practices can prove fatal. The Dayton Daily News reported in 2003
that at least 24 people in the Midwest have died from inhaling hydrogen
sulfide and methane from manure since the 1970s. Studies of residents living
near IFAP facilities have documented increased rates of neurobehavioral and
neuropsychiatric abnormalities.

Moreover, the Commissioners explained, animal wastes are known to be a
primary source of “zoonotic” pathogens – disease-carrying microbes that pass
between humans and animals -- that can lead to disease outbreaks. Such
pathogens include E.coli O157:H7, and Cryptosporidium. In one recent
example, farm animal run-off from IFAP facilities was among the suspected
causes of a 2006 E. coli outbreak in which 6 people died and more than 250
were sickened.

Monitoring is a basic component of strategies to protect the public from
harmful effects resulting from contamination or disease, yet monitoring
systems in IFAP are inadequate – a situation that makes mandatory reporting
of toxic emissions even more important. For this reason, the Pew Commission
expressed their concerns about the EPA proposal to lift reporting
requirements on industrial farms in a February 26 letter to EPA Administrator
Stephen Johnson.

“Clearly we must balance the imperative of human and environmental health
with an ever-growing consumer demand for safe, abundant animal-based food
products,” said Commission Chairman John Carlin. “Through improved practices
we can achieve both ends, but this means at a minimum not weakening the
existing means of monitoring harmful emissions from IFAP operations.”

The Pew Commission was convened in 2005 to study the impacts of dramatic
changes in animal agriculture in America over the past 40 years. It is
funded by a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts to Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health. The decline of the family farm and the concentration
of the industry into a relative few large corporations has meant greater
efficiency and lowered costs for producers. But this shift has also brought
environmental, public health, and socioeconomic problems, such as the threats
posed by poorly managed farm waste. Today’s event was part of a series of
Capitol Hill issue briefings on these risks and challenges, and will
culminate in the public release on April 29, 2008, of a set of
recommendations to address them. The PCIFAP’s two-year study encompassed
site visits to production facilities across the country, consultation with
industry stakeholders, public health, medical, and agriculture experts,
public meetings, and peer-reviewed technical reports.

The report is supported by a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts. The
opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect
the views of The Pew Charitable Trusts.




  • [Livingontheland] Threats to Public Health and Environment from Industrial Animal Agriculture Wastes, Tradingpost, 05/01/2008

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