Senators Hear Clashing Views on Factory Farm Waste Rules

It's pretty clear that Sen Lincoln and Rep Peterson are a lot more concerned w/ the corporate butter on their bread than the people they represent.That's becoming an epidemic in the Democratic Party.

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original-congressionalquarterly

Senators Hear Clashing Views on Factory Farm Waste Rules

By William Scally

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Thursday heard sharply diverging views on whether the superfund environmental cleanup law should be applied to huge animal feeding operations that pose a threat to water and air quality.

So-called concentrated animal feeding operations, sometimes called factory farms, have proliferated in recent years, now totaling about 19,000 across the country.

A CAFO may contain thousands of hogs or hundreds of thousands of chickens. Their waste, often spread on the land, can flow into streams and lakes, causing growth of harmful algae and contamination by bacteria, pesticides and hormones, posing serious threats to health.

The problem has led to calls by environmental and conservation groups for application of the superfund law under which “the polluter pays” for cleanup — and a suit by Oklahoma Attorney General W.A. Drew Edmondson that uses the law to seek cleanup costs from poultry companies.

But bills by Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and House Agriculture Chairman Collin C. Peterson, D-Minn., would amend the superfund law — the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act — to exclude manure from the definition of a “hazardous substance.”

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complete article here

Obama's office just took my message. Durbin's office gave me the impression he is supporting cutting the industrial factory farms from the industrial waste legislation. Oh well, at least they logged in my nay vote call.