Factory Farms

Press Releases > Water
August 17, 2005
CITIZENS’ ENVIRONMENTAL COALITION
ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES OF NEW YORK
NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL
NEW YORK RIVERS UNITED
ONONDAGA NATION
SIERRA CLUB – ATLANTIC CHAPTER

Black River Poisoning and Fishkill Preventable, Groups Say: Weak State Regulations Must be Strengthened

Albany NY– In the wake of a 3 million gallon manure spill into the Black River that killed up to 100.000 fish, Environmental groups came together today to call for stronger measures to protect New York’s streams, lakes and rivers from factory farm pollution. A report, “The Wasting of Rural New York State: Factory Farms and Public Health”, released by Citizens’ Environmental Coalition and Sierra Club, documents a number of serious environmental and public health problems caused by factory farms, also called concentrated animal feeding operations or CAFO’s, as well as significant weaknesses in the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s program to address factory farm pollution.

“The tragedy of last week’s manure spill is that we lack a strong state program that supports sustainable agriculture. Such a program could have prevented the gigantic release of manure and its devastating impact on New York’s beautiful Black River,” said Bobbi Chase Wilding, associate director of Citizens' Environmental Coalition, “New York needs to place a moratorium on permitting expansion or new construction of factory ‘farms’. The DEC must strengthen its oversight and regulations to prevent the release of manure from these facilities. In addition, we call on the DEC to immediately inspect the manure lagoons on all of New York’s factory farms and to require the construction of dikes and other measures to prevent manure releases from entering the water we drink, swim, or fish in.”

While water pollution, fish kills and other damage to lakes and rivers are one of the most significant impacts caused by factory farm pollution, there are other serious problems caused by these facilities.

Because they concentrate large numbers of cattle, or other animals, factory farms have enormous amounts of animal manure to manage. A little animal manure can help fertilize and condition soil and aid in the growing of crops. However, when manure is applied to fields at rates that exceed the amount that can be taken up in the corn, hay or other crops grown there, the manure then sits in the field and rots, seeps into groundwater polluting wells and/or gets washed by rain into neighboring lakes and streams. Rotting manure releases harmful gasses like hydrogen sulfide that have been implicated in a variety of illnesses.

The Citizen’s Environmental Coalition and Sierra Club report documents that the Marks Farm disaster is not an isolated incident. The report shows that the failure of the Marks Farm manure lagoon was proceeded by a series of manure releases and management problems around the state. Connie Mather who until recently lived adjacent to a CAFO in Cayuga County had this to say about the Marks Farm release, “as serious as the Black River spill is, we have experienced a smaller spill in our area and we see this as just a harbinger of problems to come.”

In New York factory farms do not get the same level of regulatory oversight from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) as other large industrial facilities that pollute the environment. While the largest facilities require DEC CAFO permits, the nutrient management plans that detail how manure will be stored and disposed of do not get regular review from DEC staff, and are never available for public review. It is not clear that the DEC ever inspected the manure lagoon at the Marks farm in Lewis County prior to its failure that released the manure and decimated fish populations in the Black River.

The report includes a list of recommendations to reform New York State’s regulation of factory farms including:

A moratorium on permitting new CAFOs;
Allowing municipalities to regulate these facilities;
Providing for public participation and review of CAFO permits;
Expanding funding and staffing for DEC’s CAFO program;
Strengthening the CAFO general permit;
Setting air standards for CAFOs;
Promotion of sustainable agriculture.
“Imagine six Olympic sized swimming pools full of manure poised to pour into your drinking water supply or your favorite fishing hole. The people living in the Black River Valley faced that threat daily, without knowledge, or opportunity to do anything about it until disaster struck thanks to New York’s inadequate CAFO regulations.” Said Yvonne Tasker-Rothenberg, Chair of the Sierra Club – Atlantic Chapter CAFO Committee.

“It is unconscionable that state regulations do not require DEC to oversee manure management practices such as the engineering and construction of manure lagoons and that the nature of the threats posed by factory farms are kept secret from the public,” said Rothenberg

Citizens’ Environmental Coalition and Sierra Club were joined by other organizations in calling for stronger regulation of factory farms.

Bruce Carpenter, Executive Director of New York Rivers United said, “(T)his report clearly identifies the potential risks involved in these expanding factory farms. The recent failure of a containment lagoon occurred at such a facility in the Black River valley. This is evidence of significant problems including lack of public knowledge of the risks and insufficient agency oversight. The degree of public risk involved underscores the need increased public awareness. The communication, or more accurately, the lack of communication from the DEC, concerning the specifics of the problem, the history of the facility, the question of site inspections by the agency, make it likely that New York Rivers United will pursue further action on this destructive spill,” said Carpenter.

“The Onondaga Nation is deeply saddened by the tremendous harm done to the Black River because of last week's manure spill at Marks Farm. The Onondaga people have lived in this area for thousands of years and they understand the importance of protecting the rivers, fish, and people who depend on them," said Joseph Heath, general counsel for the Onondaga Nation. "The DEC must take action to prevent incidents like this from occurring again. Factory farming endangers our health, and drives out responsible, respectful family farms."

"It's no news that bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens in animal waste threaten public health," said Brad Sewell, Senior Attorney with NRDC. "The federal government and New York State needs to wake up and set technology standards for large-scale dairies that will directly reduce pathogens in animal wastes."

"Factory farms pose an increasing risk to New York's lakes, streams, and drinking water supplies" said Robert Moore, Executive Director of Environmental Advocates of New York. "Despite the obvious risk these facilities pose -- as evidenced by the millions of gallons of manure spilled by Marks Farm earlier this week -- New York State has not only failed to regulate factory farms, but has starved DEC of the resources it needs to oversee the 600+ factory farms currently in New York."