From: Debbie Neustadt, Iowa Sierra Club, Ex Com member This memo is from Molly Diggin the Chapter Chair the chapter in North Clarolina with an article from a newspaper. _______________________________________________ md: one might have thought that the massive devastation wrought by Hurricane Floyd might have at least temporarily sobered up the hog industry, but apparently not. Today's Raleigh News & Observer front page story on the Pork Council's request to Congress, in which the hog industry asks for $1 billion, an exemption from environmental laws, waiver of North Carolina's moratorium on new and expanded hog operations, and --last but not least-- permission to rebuild using outdated siting and construction standards. The proposal is so bad that even Jesse Helms' office dissed it. ----- Hog farmers seek aid Pork producers whose waste lagoons overflowed during Floyd ask members of Congress to help them get an exemption from environmental rules. By JAMES ROSEN , Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON -- Lobbyists for hog farmers in North Carolina have asked lawmakers from the state to help them gain sweeping exemptions from federal and state environmental regulations in the wake of flooding left by Hurricane Floyd. The 20 inches of rain dumped on Eastern North Carolina in 24 hours last month, and the historic flooding it prompted, caused widespread contamination from human and animal waste. A proposal on behalf of the state's pork producers, sent last week to the Washington offices of several lawmakers, seeks legislative relief from Congress for hog farmers with waste lagoons that were swollen or ruptured by Floyd's record floodwaters. Walter Cherry, head of the N.C. Pork Council in Raleigh, sent the draft legislative package to at least five members of the state's congressional delegation. The four-page proposal, a copy of which was obtained by The News & Observer, is dated Sept. 29 and written in the form of legislation. While all farmers in Eastern North Carolina would be eligible for relief under its provisions, environmentalists and state officials said the package is clearly intended to help large hog farmers and other intensive livestock operations. Among the proposed waivers of environmental regulations are: Authority to repair or rebuild facilities to the standards that existed when they were originally constructed, rather than current, stricter standards. "Red tape relief" to allow the waiver or suspension of any federal, state or local regulation that slows reconstruction. An exemption of up to one year from provisions of the Clean Water Act, a centerpiece of federal environmental law for the last quarter century, so that livestock farmers could discharge waste from lagoons into waterways without obtaining a permit. The proposal got a cool reception from some North Carolina lawmakers. "As we rebuild, we cannot repeat the mistakes of the past or backpedal on environmental protection," said Democratic Rep. David Price of Chapel Hill. "When we are finished with the job of recovering from the devastation caused by Floyd, we want to have cleaner streams and rivers in Eastern North Carolina, not dirtier." David Rouzer, an aide to Republican Sen. Jesse Helms, said congressional appropriators weighing large amounts of aid to Floyd victims probably would not be interested in a "wish list" from a particular interest group. "As far as the 100-year flood zone is concerned or rebuilding lagoons to old or new standards, those are state issues that, quite frankly, we don't have time to deal with up here," Rouzer said. "We're trying to get as much money as we can and get it delivered in the proper manner. I don't think anybody in this congressional delegation is going to dictate standards that really the state legislature ought to be debating, not the U.S. Congress." Mike Williams, director of the Animal and Poultry Waste Management Center at N.C. State University in Raleigh, said the notion of rebuilding hog lagoons to old standards might not fit with Gov. Jim Hunt's bid to phase out such facilities over 10 years and convert them to other waste-management systems. "If there is going to be significant money spent, it may merit taking a critical look at how that would fit into a conversion plan for new technology," Williams said. Beth Ann Mumford, a spokeswoman for the N.C. Pork Council, said the group's proposal had been misinterpreted. "This was not intended to be some controversial thing," she said. "We were just trying to get some help for those producers who have been flooded out. We're not trying to skirt any state laws or federal laws." Mumford noted that the exemptions sought by the proposal would apply only to a small number of hog farmers who suffered extensive damage. "We're talking about three dozen hog farms that have been flooded," she said. "There has been no determination of those that must be rebuilt versus repaired, so we may only be looking at a handful of hog farms that need any kind of technical or financial assistance at all." Molly Diggins, head of the N.C. Sierra Club, said she was disappointed by the organization's legislative package. "The proposal seems to put a higher value on hog lagoons than on public health," Diggins said. "And it is seeking to use taxpayer dollars to put the public at risk. Waiving the Clean Water Act when residents of Eastern North Carolina have already experienced serious threats to their drinking-water supply is just completely unconscionable." North Carolina has imposed tougher regulations on hog farmers since massive rainfall in 1995 ruptured large lagoons and spilled waste into rivers and other waterways, contributing to the deaths of millions of fish. Don Reuter, spokesman for the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said state regulators understand that hog farmers and other livestock producers need a grace period because of Floyd. But he said the state would have serious concerns about any suspension or waiver of provisions in the Clean Water Act. "Since this storm hit, we have taken our regulatory hat off," Reuter said. "Our focus has been on assistance and assessment. We recognize that this is an unprecedented event in our history. But it is important for us to still have appropriate enforcement capabilities for those bad actors who choose to take advantage of the circumstances." - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To get off the CONS-CAFO-ACTIVIST list, send any message to: [log in to unmask] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask]