December 13, 2000

Contact:  Ed Hopkins - 202-675-7908
                Ken Midkiff - 573-815-9250

SIERRA CLUB CALLS NEW EPA RULES ON ANIMAL FACTORIES A "HALF-STEP"
FORWARD

WASHINGTON - The Sierra Club announced its reaction to the US
Environmental
Protection Agency's (US EPA's) draft rules limiting animal factory
pollution expected to be released on Friday. While the Club acknowledged

that the EPA has taken some positive steps, the Sierra Club stated that
the
draft rules do not adequately protect our waterways, health or rural
communities from the millions of tons of animal waste that these
factories
produce.

"The EPA knows the problems and they know the solutions," stated Ken
Midkiff, Sierra Club's Clean Water Campaign Coordinator.
"Unfortunately,
they have chosen to take only a half-step forward towards protecting
Americas' waterways from this pollution."

Midkiff pointed out the following flaws with the draft regulations:

·    The rules contain a gaping exemption that allows factories to
spread
an unlimited amount of waste on croplands during rainy weather. This
will
cause untreated animal waste to run-off directly into our waterways.
·    There are no limits for contamination of our water from bacteria,
virus, and disease-causing organisms.
·    There are also no limits regarding antibiotics and heavy metals
found
in animal feeds.
·    Untreated wastes will continue to be dumped into massive open-air
liquid waste pits, then pumped onto adjacent fields.
·    Operations will still be allowed to follow a permitting process
that
allows them to police themselves.

"The Sierra Club has met with EPA on these proposed rules and have
submitted exhaustive documentation of these factories' polluting
practices," Midkiff said. "The EPA knows that that animal waste from
these
facilities is fouling miles of our nation's rivers and streams and
choking
out entire rural communities with odor emissions."

Despite the flaws in the draft regulations, the Sierra Club noted that
the
EPA made some positive strides in curbing pollution from animal
factories:

·    The large corporations will share responsibility with their
contract
farmers for environmental damage caused at a contractor's location
·    Lagoons, or large open-air liquid waste pits, must be large enough
to
withstand above-average rainfall without overflowing.
·    Poultry operations that were previously exempted will be included
in
federal rules.
·    The new rules attempt to control runoff of two of the most
polluting
elements found in animal waste -- phosphorous and nitrogen -- from the
huge
facilities.  Excess phosphorous and nitrogen spur plant growth that
depletes
the level of oxygen in the water and harms fish.

"We are glad to see that The EPA put one foot forward," said Ed Hopkins,

Director of the Sierra Club's Environmental Quality Program. "But they
must
do more to keep animal waste out of our water and stop animal factory
pollution."

The new EPA draft regulations will be open for public comment.
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