Manure, feathers, carcasses, organs, blood, dirt and massive amounts of wastewater – all of that is stored in lagoons and then the liquid waste is sprayed onto nearby fields.
People need RCRA to hold factory farms and industrial slaughterhouses accountable for polluting drinking water.
Unfortunately, a bill making its way through the House of Representatives seeks to bar people whose drinking water wells have been contaminated by factory farms from filing similar citizen suits under RCRA.
Dubbed the ‘Farm Regulatory Certainty Act,” the bill would not prevent the Mountaire suit from moving ahead (as this is a processing plant and not a factory farm), but is still deeply concerning.
First, people whose water has been destroyed by factory farms deserve to use RCRA to fight for clean water.
People living in areas impacted by industrial agriculture have a right to clean water just like everyone else.
Citizens living near Mountaire’s Millsboro plant have had to take this matter into their own hands after being failed by Mountaire, the EPA, and the state of Delaware.
Their ability to pursue clean water and justice depends on their ability to file a citizen suit under RCRA – a right that could very well be denied to other impacted communities if Congress creates yet another loophole for Big Ag.
Millsboro deserves better.
Stand with the citizens of Millsboro, Delaware to demand that Mountaire clean up its mess and restore clean drinking water to its neighbors.