The air at some concentrated animal feeding operations test sites in the United States is dirtier than in America 's most polluted cities, according to a new report from the Environmental Integrity Project. This exposes workers to concentrations of pollutants far above occupational safety guidelines, says the report.
"While the measurements were taken onsite at factory farms, the pollution levels are high enough to suggest that those living near these massive livestock operations also may be at risk," says EIP. Estimated emission levels for some pollutants were higher at some test sites than amounts reported by large industrial plants.
According to EIP, the report should lead to the overturning of a 2008 Bush administration decision to give CAFOs amnesty from federal pollution reporting rules. The report says:
"Five years ago, the Environmental Protection Agency suspended enforcement of air pollution laws against CAFOs until the study was complete, and in 2008, EPA exempted CAFOs from most pollution reporting requirements altogether. But the study shows that many CAFOs pollute in quantities large enough to trigger emission reporting laws that have applied to most other large industries for decades, and that Clean Air Act protections may be warranted to protect rural citizens … [The new] research confirms that the large CAFOs, or factory farms, that dominate the nation's meat industry are major sources of ammonia emissions and other dangerous air pollutants."
The study was conducted by Purdue University researchers who for two years monitored air quality at 15 livestock confinement sites, nine livestock waste lagoons, and a dairy corral in nine states, measuring background concentrations and emissions of ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, particulates, and volatile organic compounds. EPA approved Purdue's methods and supervised the study.
In January, Purdue presented the results to EPA as a series of summary reports and data sets that EPA made available to the public without further analysis. The Environmental Integrity Project analyzed these initial reports, comparing CAFO air pollution with established health standards and emissions reporting rules to assess the need for increased public health protections from factory farm emissions.
Industry officials challenged the findings from EIP, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization formed by former Environmental Protection Agency staff to advocate for effective enforcement of environmental laws. "Research professionals from Purdue University who are experts in this field of study are in charge of analyzing the data from the EPA study, and they say it will take quite some time to do so," Richard Lobb, communications director for the National Chicken Council, told Dow Jones Newswires.
"EIP's analysis is obviously a 'quick and dirty' job with predetermined conclusions that are negative to agriculture," said Lobb. "We don't know what the proper scientific analysis will show, but it will be much more reliable than the accusations of a biased advocacy group."
The full EIP report in PDF format is available online at this link.
