WASHINGTON – While the Trump administration orders the EPA do less to protect Americans from dirty air and water, and Congress threatens to dismantle the agency altogether, Food & Water Watch and 34 advocacy organizations are demanding that the agency do more to protect communities from factory farms.
Today, the groups filed a legal petition with Scott Pruitt’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), citing its duty under the law to hold concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs or factory farms) accountable for their water pollution, which threatens public health and the environment.
The petition asks EPA to overhaul its regulations for how CAFOs are regulated under the federal Clean Water Act and its permitting program, noting that current rules fail to prevent pollution and protect communities.
But the EPA is legally bound to protect communities from pollution, and we intend to hold the agency accountable for doing its job.” Clean water advocates have experienced Pruitt’s weak record on CAFO pollution in Oklahoma.
“I have seen beautiful rivers turn green as a result of runoff from CAFOs,” said Earl Hatley, Oklahoma’s Grand Riverkeeper.
The vast quantities of manure generated from CAFOs are typically disposed of, untreated, on cropland, where it can seep or run off to pollute waterways and drinking water sources.
“That’s why we’re standing with other organizations from around the U.S. who care about social justice to demand that Scott Pruitt’s EPA take action to ensure that regulations for factory farms protect the interests of all communities, not Big Ag.” “Even in Wisconsin, where all CAFOs are required to have Clean Water Act permits, water contamination from mega-dairies is a widespread and growing threat to public health.
It also asks the EPA to require large corporate integrators that control CAFO practices to obtain permits, instead of just their contract producers, who currently bear the burden of following permits and managing waste.
The petition further asks EPA to strengthen permits in several ways, including: requiring pollution monitoring and reporting, as is required of virtually all other industries; restricting waste disposal in order to better protect water quality; and regulating CAFO discharges of a wider range of pollutants than permits currently address, including the heavy metals and pharmaceuticals found in industrial livestock waste.
Lenient laws and regulations have made Iowa a haven for corporate polluters.

‘Higher than acceptable’ lead level detected in San Marcos school water fountain.
Water tested from a drinking fountain at San Marcos Middle School contained "higher than acceptable" levels of lead, San Marcos Unified School District confirmed Tuesday.
RELATED: Drinking water shut off at San Ysidro schools due to high lead, copper, bacteria The drinking fountain, located outside the school’s gym, was removed following the results of the test, the district said.
"San Marcos Unified recently tested the water at three of our oldest sites: Alvin Dunn Elementary, Richland Elementary, and San Marcos Middle School," the district told 10News in a statement.
"Of the 15 samples, only one came back with a ‘higher than acceptable’ level – a drinking fountain outside the gym at San Marcos Middle, which was immediately removed."
Of the 15 samples sent out from the three schools, only one sample – from San Marcos Middle – returned with the "higher than acceptable" result.
The school district said they are currently having water tested at all schools in the district.
Bottled water was provided to students at La Mirada Elementary, Smythe Elementary and San Ysidro Middle School while repairs were underway.
Later in February, 10News learned that students from Emerson-Bandini Elementary were being given bottled water after reports of odor emanating from drinking water.
A spokesperson for San Diego Unified School District sent the following statement to 10News in February: "When San Diego Unified’s Safety Office received word of a possible odor in the water at Emerson-Bandini Elementary School, the department acted quickly by sending drinking water samples out for analysis and providing bottled water to all students and staff at the school, as well as to the onsite charter school’s students and staff.

Because the state data doesn’t account for the nearly 2 million Californians still relying on private wells or factor in contamination from Chromium-6, experts said the number of people with toxic water is likely even higher.
“When I shower my kids, I use to give them hot baths, but not anymore,” Gonzalez said.
“Now we just wash, rinse and get out.” The water that comes out of her Oakvale Park home is contaminated.
The contaminated water runs into about 100 homes in the area.
“It can cause cancer (and) in the case of nitrate in very high levels, it can even cause death after a few days of high exposure.” Her organization said short-term health effects of drinking uranium-contaminated water include nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, as well as liver and kidney damage.
Water is shut-off to some 18,000 students at four different school districts as further testing is done.
“Having toxic water coming out of your tap, not being able to access water in schools, this is really basic.” Tainted water in wells and public water systems in the San Diego area contain unsafe levels of uranium, fluoride, nitrate and arsenic, according to the state data.
“Here we are in the 21st century in the great state of California, one of the largest economies in the world, and people do not have water running in their homes.” While the state has made progress in getting clean, safe drinking water to rural residents, Felicia Marcus, chair of California’s Water Resources Control Board, says there’s more to do.
Although more than a million residents are estimated to be affected by contaminated water, it’s not something on the minds of those living in California’s urban centers.
In Oakvale Park, Juana Gonzalez helps some of her less fortunate neighbors by giving them a ride to the nearest place to buy water.

2017 PRNDI Entry – Continuing Coverage: Toxic Water: PFC Contamination in Southern New Hampshire.
Entry note: An audio montage of this submission is featured below, in addition to individual stories.
In March of 2016, officials in Merrimack, New Hampshire learned a multi-national plastics plant may have contaminated the region’s drinking water.
Since then, NHPR’s Emily Corwin has covered incremental updates such as state-funded blood testing and new federal health advisories; she’s investigated the use of likely toxic perfluorichemical replacements at the plant; and told the stories of residents, some of whom fear their drinking water has already made them sick.
Scientific studies have shown links between perfluorichemicals (or "PFCs") and a variety of cancers, and the EPA has advised companies to stop using certain types of them.
Nevertheless, these chemicals remain unregulated by the federal government, and health officials in New Hampshire continue to tell residents the chemicals’ effects are not yet known.
Listen to a montage of Emily’s reporting: Water contamination features and interviews: 3.10.16: DES Criticized For Understating Health Risks Of Merrimack Water Contaminant 5.6.16: In Addition To Saint-Gobain, 43 Companies In N.H. Have Used Perfluorinated Chemicals 5.19.16: EPA Announces Lifetime PFOA and PFOS Advisory Level 5.23.16: Connecting The Dots: PFOA, Congress And The EPA 5.31.16 Emergency Rule Means N.H. Can Regulate PFOA and PFOS 6.7.16: U.S. Companies Replace Teflon Toxin With Chemical Cousin.
Is It Safe?
6.24.16 Merrimack Town Councilor Calls Water District’s Communication "Inept" 8.16.16: Last Chance To Weigh In On N.H.’s ‘Teflon Toxin’ Drinking Water Standard 8.24.16: Likely State Water Standards Not Safe Enough, Says Harvard Research Fellow

Families on edge over water contamination at former New Hampshire air base.
Photo Credit: Elise Amendola/AP None of the three women can definitely say the exposure has been linked to health problems.
Still, they wonder whether their children’s frequent fevers and infection might suggest the chemicals are affecting their immune systems.
He’s active.
More worrisome, they said, is what the future holds for their children, since the chemicals can remain in the body for years.
"My concern is that their long-term health will be impacted by this significant exposure that they had as small children," said Amico, whose two children attend a Pease day care and have elevated PFC levels.
Prompted by an EPA advisory issued last year, the Air Force has investigated 190 bases for foam contamination and is treating groundwater or bringing in water at 20 bases, including Pease — a number that could grow.
Since 2015, New Hampshire health officials have tested the blood of more than 1,500 people — including 366 children — who worked on or lived near Pease or attended day care there.
It also found that children’s levels of some PFCs were twice as high as those in a 2012 study in Texas that examined 300 children; Dalton’s son had levels four times higher.
And several studies from the C8 Science Panel found links between exposure to PFOA and several types of cancers.

From the Department of Water Resources: Crews working on widening the channel at the base of the main spillway have made significant progress towards the goal of creating enough space to allow Hyatt Power Plant to operate a full capacity.
Debris removal lowered the water level in the channel at the base of the spillway.
This will allow DWR to manage the water level in the lake more efficiently.
Once fully operational, the plant can release up to 13,000 cubic feet of water per second (cfs) as DWR manages reservoir inflows and outflows of spring runoff.
DWR does not expect Lake Oroville to rise above 860 feet elevation while spillway flows are halted.
The total flow to the Feather River remains at 2500 cfs.
Work continues on the area below the emergency spillway.
The latest pictures from Department of Water Resources … Work and assessment continues on the damaged Oroville Dam main spillway in Oroville, California, March 3, 2017.
Florence Low / California Department of Water Resources, FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY The latest video from Department of Water Resources … ——————————————– Sign up for daily email service and you’ll always be one of the first to know!
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Water available for Lincoln County residents and livestock with contaminated water.
SHOSHONE, Idaho (News release) Lincoln County Commissioner Cresley McConnell advised Saturday during a briefing with the Incident Command staff that water for livestock has been made available, stated John Moore Public Information Officer.
For those that need water for their livestock they can go to Shoshone Fire Department station No.
The station has 6,000 gallons of water available that can be refilled as needed.
Lincoln County residents needing water for their livestock will need to bring tanks to fill, McConnell said.
Moore also advised, bottled water is available for Lincoln County residents that can be picked up between the hours of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., at the Shoshone Fire Department No.
2 located at 620 North 700 West in Shoshone.
For those residents needing shower facilities they can go to the Lincoln County Community Center located at 201 S Beverly in the city of Shoshone, however residents will need to bring their own toiletries.
Bottled water will also be available at this location.
This facility will be open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

LaDuke: Gov.
The spin continues in North Dakota’s corporate-fed media.
Let’s be honest, North Dakota does not care about garbage or pollution.
Morton County sprayed a number of unknown toxins from antifreeze-laden water cannons to mace onto the Water Protectors and into the river.
Rancher David Meyers purchased 40,000 pounds of Rozol, a prairie dog poison, to be used on land that adjoins the Missouri River.
Six months after he poisoned the land, Meyer sold the Cannonball Ranch to Energy Transfer Partners for a reported $18 million.
Since Jan. 2016, more than 100,900 gallons of crude oil, waste oil, bio solids, natural gas and brine were spilled in North Dakota and surrounding areas, according to the North Dakota Department of Health records.
" ‘Not everyone gets fined,’ Suess said.
So, let’s talk about garbage, North Dakota.
I can say that Burgum has a lot of work to do to clean up the garbage of the state.

CRS Report: ‘Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) – A Summary of the Act and Its Major Requirements’.
Click on the graphics to enlarge them.
Summary This report summarizes the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and its major programs and regulatory requirements.
It reviews revisions to the act since its enactment in 1974, including the drinking water security provisions added to the SDWA by the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 (P.L.
107-188) and lead reduction provisions as amended by P.L.
111-380 (including amendments made by P.L.
First enacted in 1974 and substantially amended and reauthorized in 1986 and 1996, the act is administered through programs that establish standards and treatment requirements for public water supplies, promote compliance capacity of public water systems, provide technical assistance to small water systems, control the underground injection of fluids, finance infrastructure projects, and protect sources of drinking water.
In the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996 (P.L.
104-182), Congress reauthorized appropriations for most SDWA programs through FY2003.
In addition to reviewing key programs and requirements of the SDWA, this report includes statistics on the number and types of regulated public water systems and lists all major amendments with the year of enactment and public law number.

Drinking water is contaminated in some parts of Whidbey Island.
WHIDBEY ISLAND, Wash. — The water that’s flowing through some parts of Whidbey Island is contaminated.
But it was only recently that Hovland, of Coupeville, learned her drinking water tested high for PFAS, a chemical compound found in firefighting foam and now linked to certain cancers.
The Navy has been using the foam since the 1980s.
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“If it comes in above the advisory level of 70 parts per trillion, then the Navy is going to provide drinking water,” Welding said.
“When you are worried, very, very worried, you don’t have room for anger yet,” Hovland said.
Several years ago, Hovland says her husband was diagnosed with prostate and bladder cancer; now she wonders if their drinking water is to blame.
The Navy says they are largely phasing out the use of the firefighting foam as they continue to test more areas for contamination.
“The Navy is concerned about their health, too, that’s why we have gone out and done this testing,” Welding said.