Environmentalists Seek Controls on Chicken and Hog Factory Farms

Virginia has more than 100 large chicken and hog factory farms, but not one has a required federal Clean Water Act water pollution control permit that would reduce runoff into the Chesapeake Bay.  Because the Commonwealth has failed to develop and implement a Clean Water Act permitting program for factory farms, environmental groups are petitioning the federal EPA to assume control over Virginia’s water pollution control program.

These large livestock enterprises often have thousands of chickens and hogs packed into what are called Confined Animal Feeding Operations. CAFOs produce hundreds of millions of pounds of manure that contribute significant amounts of nutrient runoff to the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. In turn, the manure runoff causes dangerous algae blooms and creates dead zones in which aquatic life cannot survive.

The petitioners include the Environmental Integrity Project, Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper, Potomac Riverkeeper, Shenandoah Riverkeeper, the Assateague Coastal Trust, and Waterkeepers Chesapeake.

The federal Clean Water Act requires that states issue water pollution control permits to all CAFOs that discharge pollution, but Virginia has not met this requirement. Unlike Maryland, which has issued CAFO permits to most of its factory farms, Virginia has yet to issue a single federal permit. Additionally, the permitting program that Virginia has proposed would allow the state to issue CAFO permits without state regulators or the public being able to review the full federally required nutrient management plans.

“To restore the health of the Bay, EPA needs to enforce Clean Water Act requirements — on the books since 1972 — that require permits and pollution controls for big animal feeding operations,” said Eric V. Schaeffer, Executive Director of the Environmental Integrity Project.

Agriculture is the single largest source of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution in the Chesapeake Bay, according to the EPA. In Virginia, farms contribute 15 million pounds per year of nitrogen pollution in the Bay, and 2 million pounds of phosphorus, with much of this problem coming from poultry operations on the Eastern Shore and in the Shenandoah Valley.

As of 2010, Virginia had approximately 898 animal feeding operations in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, 116 of which were large CAFOs, according to EPA.

“The Clean Water Act is not new and Virginia citizens deserve to have their laws enforced. Agriculture continues to be a significant source of pollution for our Bay and yet Virginia has yet to comply with the spirit of the Clean Water Act. ” said Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper Executive Director Jay Ford. “Our hope is that this will serve as a wake up call for Virginia government to make meaningful changes to our permitting program. Our waters and our citizens have waited long enough and the time for reform is now.”

The CAFO permitting program, and nutrient management plans required pursuant to it, is essential to Chesapeake Bay restoration goals because these permits reduce manure runoff. The nutrient management plans require, among other things, that farms implement precise on-site controls to keep manure and other pollutants out of waterways. Because Virginia has failed to meet this obligation under the federal Clean Water Act, EIP and the Waterkeeper organizations petitioned EPA to withdraw its approval of Virginia’s water pollution control program and assume control over administration and enforcement.