Environmental Disaster Highlights
Need for Agricultural Reform in Michigan
Media Contact: Gail Philbin, gail.philbin@sierraclub.org, 312-493-2384
Lansing, Mich.-- A massive manure
spill encroaching on water, wildlife and residents in Kalamazoo County underscores
the urgency to revamp our agricultural system, just days after Less=More brought together 140
farmers, consumers and advocates to chart a path to a safer food future during
Michigan State University’s Agriculture and Natural Resources Week.
VDS
Farms, LLC, a dairy permitted by Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
(DEQ) as a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) under the Clean Water
Act, spread manure on frozen and
snow-covered fields near Fulton that began thawing in warmer temperatures this
week. This led to a waste-infused snow melt spilling onto a county roadway and
into roadside ditches, area wetlands, and private property earlier this week.
Last
year, Less=More joined dozens of other agriculture and environmental advocates
in calling
for the DEQ to ban the application of waste on frozen and snow-covered ground,
which is currently allowed in the agency’s general water quality permit for
CAFOs like VDS Farms. The DEQ is considering changes to that permit as part of
a five-year renewal process, but it hasn’t made a decision yet and has favored
voluntary compliance over banning the practice up to this point.
“Under
DEQ’s current permits this isn’t an uncommon practice at this time of year as
factory farms empty their lagoons that have been collecting millions of gallons
of animal waste over the winter,” said Lynn Henning of Socially Responsible
Agricultural Project, a Less=More member. “It’s also not uncommon to have
spills like this that threaten environmental and public health. This kind of waste runoff is part of the
reason we had poisoned drinking water from Lake Erie last summer.”
An
algal bloom fueled by phosphorus runoff led to the growth of a toxin in August
2014 that made water from Lake Erie undrinkable for nearly a half-million
people in and around Toledo for two days.
“Clearly,
asking CAFO operators to voluntarily use their judgment as to when it’s not a
good time to spread on frozen or snow-covered ground isn’t working,” said Sandy
Nordmark, a farmer and member of Less=More.
“Banning winter waste application is a no-brainer. In fact, these are
industrial facilities and they should be regulated as such.”
VDS
Farms was one of the facilities cited in Restoring the Balance to Michigan’s
Farming Landscape, Less=More’s 2013 report on the relationship between
factory farm pollution and Farm Bill subsidies in Michigan (available at http://tinyurl.com/Less-
“We
need people concerned about sustainable agriculture and healthy food to speak
up when state agencies are changing rules that govern how industrial scale
farming is done,” said Gail Philbin, director of Sierra Club Michigan, a
Less=More member. “There is a host of things that go on behind the scenes—like
the subsidies for factory farms that Less=More is targeting-- that affect the
kind of food we have access to as consumers.”
Less=More
is a sustainable agriculture coalition comprised of national, state and local
organizations, farmers and consumers. The March 9 Farming
Our Future: The Forces and Faces of 21st Century Agriculture conference
hosted by Less=More gave urban and rural sustainable agriculture practitioners,
researchers, lawyers, and other experts the opportunity to explore the state of
farming today and answer the question: How did we get to the point where the
way we raise our food can actually endanger our health rather than promote it? Speakers
discussed how to move beyond our industrial agriculture system, spotlighting emerging
trends, innovative projects, and programs that support sustainable farmers. They
also urged greater citizen engagement in the processes and programs that
determine who gets to farm and how they farm.
