Confined Animal Feeding Operations/CAFOs: GLRPPR Sector Resources

News: Team determines how estrogens persist in dairy farm wastewater

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 17:12:32 GMT

Wastewater from large dairy farms contains significant concentrations of estrogenic hormones that can persist for months or even years, researchers report in a new study. In the absence of oxygen, the estrogens rapidly convert from one form to another; this stalls their biodegradation and complicates efforts to detect them, the researchers found. The study, led by scientists at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, is the first to document the unusual behavior of estrogens in wastewater lagoons. The study appears in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

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Resource: P2 Data Collection Tools

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 19:16:30 GMT

NEWMOA developed this online resource to enable P2 and environmental assistance programs to share their P2 data collection tools. The overall purpose of this effort is to provide a way for programs to share these tools so that they can learn from each other and not have to reinvent them. P2 data collection tools include surveys, worksheets, self-certification forms, protocols and standard operating practices (SOPs) for follow-up to P2 technical assistance visits, quality management plans (QMPs), and/or checklists that P2 programs use to collect information from their clients. These data collection tools are used to understand the behavioral, environmental, and financial results from site visits, workshops or training events, and in response to an email, phone inquiry, or other social media technology. Users can customize their Search based on the relevant sector or topic, type of P2 activity, or type of P2 data collection tool used. They can also Add their own data collection tools to the system.

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Resource: Big Chicken: Pollution and Industrial Poultry Production in America

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 22:53:07 GMT

Chicken, once a distant third to beef and pork, is now the most popular meat in the United States. The average American eats almost 84 pounds of chicken a year, more than twice the amount eaten in 1970. The American poultry industry has matched this change in appetite with an exponential increase in production. In 2007, for instance, 8.9 billion chickens were raised and sold as food in the United States, a jump of more than 1,400 percent since 1950. At the same time, chicken farms have mushroomed in size; by 2006, a typical operation produced an average of 605,000 birds in vast buildings of 20,000 square feet or more. Meanwhile, the number of individual farms raising chickens for food has plummeted by 98 percent in just over half a century. This transformation of the industry has been accompanied by an environmental challenge: In many cases, these large poultry farms pose major pollution problems for regional communities. This report describes how the industrialization and consolidation of the poultry business have concentrated production in what is now known as the Broiler Belt. In this area, which extends from eastern Texas through the southeastern United States and north to Maryland and Delaware, chickens outnumber people by as much as 400 to 1. The waste produced by these concentrated poultry operations raises serious concerns about treatment and disposal, particularly along the shores of the largest estuary system in the United States, the Chesapeake Bay. The 523 million chickens produced each year in just Maryland and Delaware generate roughly 42 million cubic feet of chicken waste -- enough to fill the dome of the U.S. Capitol about 50 times, or almost once a week. Traditionally, farmers have managed this manure by spreading it on fields. But the combination of industrial-level production and the diminishing amount of cropland in these two states has resulted in more manure than crops can use, and the excess flows untreated into the streams and rivers that feed into the Chesapeake. "Big Chicken" examines 50 years of data to take a fresh look at industrial poultry production and to make policy recommendations for managing chicken waste to mitigate its toll on our land and water.

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News: New Strategy Aims to Reduce Agricultural Ammonia Emissions

Thu, 12 May 2011 17:51:22 GMT

As concerns about air pollution from large dairies and other concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) continue to mount, scientists are reporting a practice that could cut emissions of an exceptionally abundant agricultural gas -- ammonia -- by up to 30%.

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News: IL: Applications now being accepted for 2011 Illinois Governor's Sustainability Awards

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 15:13:01 GMT

ISTC is now accepting applications for the 2011 Governor's Sustainability Awards. The application deadline is May 27, 2011.

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News: MI: Environmental groups concerned Michigan proposal would promote unchecked water pollution

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 17:19:32 GMT

A bill that would codify a voluntary pollution prevention program for farmers is moving swiftly through the legislature but environmentalists are concerned that it will excuse livestock operations from penalties for water contamination.

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News: Live Chat with the EERE Information Center

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 22:35:28 GMT

A few weeks ago, the EERE Information Center launched a new Live Chat feature that, during chat hours, gives you quick, online access to knowledgeable folks at the Information Center who can help find answers to your energy-related questions.

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News: EPA Says PA Farmers Should Try to Prevent Contamination

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 00:16:57 GMT

Farmers in Pennsylvania should take steps to prevent groundwater contamination and to prevent manure from their farm animals from entering streams, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said. The EPA is joining with the Lancaster County Conservation District to protect the Muddy Run River, which runs into the Chesapeake Bay watershed. In a previous round of evaluations, the government estimates 85% of the area farms were not complying with the state requirements for runoff and groundwater protection, resulting in contamination of streams and groundwater.

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Resource: Implementation Guidance on CAFO Regulations--CAFOs That Discharge or Are Proposing to Discharge

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 23:32:17 GMT

EPA promulgated revised regulations for CAFOs in 2008 to require that CAFOs that discharge or propose to discharge must seek coverage under a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. The rule also clarifies that a CAFO proposes to discharge if it is designed, constructed, operated, or maintained such that a discharge will occur. This document provides guidance for CAFO owners and operators and NPDES permitting authorities for evaluating whether a CAFO discharges or proposes to discharge (EPA-833-R-10-006).

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News: EWG Urges USDA to Target Funds for Cleaner Water

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:24:39 GMT

A new report by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) finds that enrolling farmers into the voluntary federal Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is unlikely to result in cleaner water unless taxpayer funds are targeted to the highest priority locations and used in watershed-scale clean-up projects.

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