FYI, and another 2 LTEs this morning on the same subject, although not the same opinion! Lyle Letters to the Editor By Register Readers 12/06/2003 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Farmers DO protect the environment In the Nov. 21 editorial, "Seize the Opportunity," the Register ponders: What if livestock producers showed up (to support regulations). Livestock producers have been very responsible about protecting the environment. Of course there have been a few bad players. There are in every industry. However, the livestock industry ends up being vilified no matter how good a job it's doing. One good example of this has been taking place in Mahaska County. The Mahaska Rural Water Systems Inc. has been serving hog producers producing a combined 300,000 hogs a year and testing the water coming out of the South Skunk River regularly since 1996. Director Randy Pleima reports nitrate levels have declined consistently. Pleima said, "We have been seeing good levels because of the buffer-strip program with buffers placed along streams and because all the manure is knifed into the ground. . . . They all have manure-management plans, and that plays a role, too. So there is no rising pollution from hogs." Obviously, this is the case in Mahaska County. Why isn't this big news as it would be if there were an accidental fish kill somewhere? When the hostility toward this industry results in it leaving for greener pastures in South America, we will not just be stopping loads of tainted green onions from entering our food supply. We will have to worry about the safety of our meat supply. Betty R. DeBoef, state representative, House District 76, What Cheer. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sue State over hog confinements? Could an Iowa farm family sue the state for negligence over a hydrogen-sulfide-related confinement death? Confinements are essentially the same as sewer pipes and other confined wastewater-related spaces. Both contain untreated fecal waste generating the poisonous gases hydrogen-sulfide and ammonia. Both need forced ventilation for humans or animals to be in them. The diseases contracted by humans (and animals) spending time in or around either are the same, and the causes of death, usually from hydrogen-sulfide asphyxiation, are the same. In every sector in America where these conditions exist, the regulations are the same - except in agriculture. Because we do not regulate these conditions in agriculture, farmers are not required to be educated about the dangers involved in using this industrial technology. They are not required to have safety equipment available to them when they enter these structures, or to follow the prescribed safety procedures. In Iowa, deaths from hydrogen-sulfide poisoning are four times higher in agricultural confinements than in the wastewater industry. Farmers and farm workers should be afforded the same protections as the rest of Iowa's citizens. If the Legislature will not extend those protections to them, then the courts should force them to do so. Some farm family should sue the state for neglecting their right to be protected from a known dangerous industrial technology. Bob Watson, Decorah. ___________________________________________________ Lyle R. Krewson Sierra Club Conservation Organizer 6403 Aurora Avenue #3 Des Moines, IA 50322-2862 515/276-8947 515/238-7113 - cel [log in to unmask] ___________________________________________________ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp