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| Group Says Farmers Need To Care for Environment |
(IRN)-An environmental group is calling on lawmakers to hold major companies responsible for their own pollution from industrial scale farms.
Environment Illinois says one example of a not so neighborly industrial farm is Cargill's Beardstown facility. Max Muller, state director for Environment Illinois, says the facility discharges waste directly into the Illinois River and Cargill is intensifying its factory pork farming operations in that area, which will lead to additional waste.
According to the U.S. Toxics Release Inventory, Cargill is Illinois' second largest industrial discharger of toxic chemicals into waterways, and the 13th largest industrial discharger in the country. The company dumped 3 million pounds of toxic chemicals into the Illinois River during 2008.
Muller says virtually all of the plant's toxic releases are in the form of nitrates, which contribute to nutrient pollution in the Illinois and Mississippi rivers as well as the Gulf of Mexico .
Environment Illinois is calling on the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to create a moratorium on new and expanded factory farms, to ensure all farms are required to obtain water pollution permits and ensure rigorous enforcement.
Environment Illinois' call to action comes at a time when the U.S. EPA has been critical of IEPA's regulation of factory farming. The IEPA is cooperating with the U.S. EPA and says it will create an inventory of factory farms, hire more staff, increase its training, and establish standard operating procedures.
(Illinois Radio Network) |
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