Court Orders EPA to Close Loophole, Factory Farms Required to Report Toxic Pollution.
The DC Circuit Court ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Tuesday to close a loophole that has allowed hazardous substances released into the environment by concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) to go unreported.
But the public cannot protect itself from these hazardous substances if CAFOs aren’t required to report their releases to the public.
CAFOs are large-scale livestock facilities that confine large numbers of animals in relatively small spaces.
This waste is known to release high levels of toxic pollutants like ammonia and hydrogen sulfide into the environment.
The court’s decision closes a loophole that exempted CAFOs from the same pollutant reporting required of other industries to ensure public safety.
"People have a right to know if CAFOs are releasing hazardous substances that can pose serious risks of illness or death into the air near their homes, schools, businesses and communities," said Kelly Foster, senior attorney for Waterkeeper Alliance.
Nearly three-quarters of the nation’s ammonia air pollution come from CAFOs.
This decision forces these operations to be transparent about their environmental impact," said Paige Tomaselli of the Center for Food Safety.
"Animal factories force billions of animals to suffer dangerously high levels of toxic air pollution day after day for their entire lives," said Humane Society of The United States’ Chief Counsel Jonathan Lovvorn.

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.