Friday, December 10, 1999 TX: Ken Kramer, 512-476-6962 IA: Jen
Hensley, 309-781-1996 309-736-1960
DC: Allen Mattison, pager 888-920-9844
IOWANS FEAR BUSH RECORD ON FACTORY FARM POLLUTION
DES MOINES, IOWA -- The Sierra Club today called on Texas Governor
George W. Bush to take action to stop water pollution caused by manure
from factory farms in Texas. Livestock operations in Texas generate
twice as much manure as the second-leading state, and the Bush
Administration made it much easier to build new factory farms in
Texas. Iowans are very concerned about Gov. Bush's record on factory
farm pollution because they also suffer from significant contamination
from Hawkeye state operations.
"Animal manure from factory farms poses a growing threat to Texas'
drinking water, streams, lakes and groundwater," said Ken Kramer,
director of the Lone Star Chapter (Texas) of Sierra Club. "Instead of
encouraging more factory farms in Texas, Governor Bush should stop
existing operations from polluting our water, and place a moratorium
on new factory farms."
"Factory farms that soil rivers, streams, and drinking water are an
unfortunately familiar sight and smell here in Iowa, too," said Steve
Veysey from Iowa Sierra Club. "Because of Iowa's problems, we are
very concerned about Gov. Bush's poor record on factory farm pollution
in Texas. We strongly urge him to clean up Texas' factory farms, and
to support our efforts to clean up Iowa by advocating a moratorium on
new operations."
Factory farms are large chicken, pig, cattle or dairy farms that house
thousands of animals in relatively small confines. These animals
produce billions of pounds of manure, and cause water pollution when
the large
volume of manure the operations apply to the land runs off into rivers
and streams, contaminating the water with bacteria, nitrogen and
phosphorus. Texas livestock operations produce 220 billion pounds of
manure annually, twice as much as the second leading state,
California. Manure runoff, along with other sources of pollution,
contributes to making 27 percent of Texas' waters unfit for swimming.
In addition, factory farms generate unbearable odors that can cause
illness and drive residents indoors.
Near Perryton, Texas, for example, where Texas Farms Inc. has grown to
249,000 hogs in the last two years, the Texas Natural Resources
Conservation Commission denied neighbors an opportunity to participate
in a hearing on the facility's permit. Now the odors from the hog
operation cause neighbors to suffer from nausea and headaches and even
prevent them from opening their windows in the evening, according to
Donnie Dendy, President of ACCORD AG, a group of small family farmers
and ranchers interested in protecting the environment.
"Governor Bush and the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission
have streamlined the process to remove public involvement and the
right to know," said Dendy, a lifelong area resident and farmer. "Gov.
Bush and the TNRCC have turned a deaf ear to rural residents."
Iowa also suffers from factory farm pollution. From 1994 to 1998, 51
major hog manure spills in Iowa killed more than one million fish.
Some spills involved hundreds of thousands of gallons of hog manure;
in one 1995 case, an Iowa factory farm spilled 1.5 million gallons of
hog manure. Animal waste contributes large amounts of bacteria and
nutrients to Iowa's waters, which are suffering from high levels of
these two contaminants. Paul Johnson, of the Iowa Department of
Natural Resources, told the Des Moines Register that "Iowa is awash in
nutrients, and we have to do something about it." (March 14, 1999)
Studies undertaken by Texas Institute for Applied Environmental
Research at Tarleton State University, for example, have confirmed
that the huge concentration of dairy operations is the main
contributor to severe contamination of the North Bosque River
watershed. The North Bosque is the source of drinking water for Waco.
Even though the water in the Bosque River violates water quality
standards, Gov. Bush's appointees to the TNRCC continue to allow the
dairy farms in the watershed to expand their operations and increase
their wastes. Incredibly, the TNRCC has allowed new dairy operations
to locate there, producing still more manure. And the affected
neighbors were denied a public hearing to raise their concerns about
the air and water pollution and odors created by these new operations.
Even though ACCORD AG successfully sued the TNRCC to invalidate the
agency rules that did not allow hearings on proposed new factory
farms, Gov. Bush's appointees continued to pass rule after rule to
prevent affected neighbors from having contested case hearings when
new factory farms are proposed. As a result, it is easier for factory
farms to begin and expand operations in Texas.
"These factory farms are driving family livestock farmers out of
business," noted Kramer. "Stronger protections to make sure that
factory farms protect the environment will level the playing field
for smaller livestock operations."
The Sierra Club has 4,500 members in Iowa, 19,000 in Texas, and over
550,000 nationwide.
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