Pictured is a lagoon that stores manure, urine, and runoff from the factory farm in the

background.

Rural and urban leaders are coming together this year to fight for clean air and water, and the health of their families and communities.
While organizations in urban areas are fighting waste treatment facilities and garbage holding centers, family farm groups are fighting factory farms and all the problems they bring to rural communities.

The amount of raw feces and urine generated by factory farms is enormous. For example, three Iowa-based corporations produce approximately four million pigs annually and generate the waste equivalent of 10 million people- three times larger than the population of Iowa. These corporations have built most of their facilities in 15 of Iowa’s 99 counties. This type of concentration greatly increases the risk of ground and surface water pollution.

Manure spills, leaking manure lagoons and pits, and the reckless spreading of manure are a major threat to the purity of streams, rivers, and groundwater. Millions of fish and other forms of aquatic life have been killed. Testing has found “manure basin seepage” in groundwater, and some drinking wells have been contaminated.

In addition, recent studies show that factory farms give off toxic gases (primarily hydrogen sulfide and ammonia) that cause nausea, headaches, bronchitis and more serious respiratory problems.
Aside from these devastating environmental effects, factory farms are driving family farmers out of business. Factory farm corporations receive huge tax breaks and other benefits that give them the advantage over family farmers in the market. One of the best ways to fight factory farms is by supporting family farms and buying food raised by family farmers.

At the Rural and Urban Unite for Environmental Justice Workshop at NPA this year, groups will discuss how to put pressure on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to support Country of Origin Labeling (COOL), which would require all meat to be labeled with the country where the animal was born. This can help family farmers because meat from animals born and raised in the U.S. is more likely to be from a family farm, many factory farms import their animals from other countries. Currently, consumers have no way of knowing the country of origin of the meat they buy . COOL would give consumers a way to buy American products, support family farms and fight factory farms.

Another program, NPA wants the USDA to support is the Conservation Security Program (CSP), which would reward farmers who are protecting the land, air and water. When Congress pushed for this program, it was intended to help all farmers who qualify. But USDA is trying to severely limit who can benefit from this program. In doing so, USDA is sending the message that it doesn’t care about clean water and air, or supporting family farmers.

At the workshop, groups will have the opportunity to talk to a representative from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). Family farmers will demand that USEPA officials tour rural Iowa so they can see firsthand the environmental damage caused by factory farms.

Urban groups will also adress their environmental concerns.
In Cincinnati, OH Leaders from CommunitiesUnited for Action (CUFA) will ask that the representative from USEPA oppose the Eldon Landfill garbage transfer station on the basis of environmental justice. CUFA fought for many years against the Eldon Landfill and finally won, but now the waste managment corporation has built a garbage transfer station. It has not been given a permit from the Cincinnati Board of Health. The corporation is pushing to have it opened. We need the USEPA to help us win this fight by intervening on the grounds of environmental justice.

South Comminsville Community Council (SCCC) in Cincinnati will also ask that USEPA work with them to come up with a solution to a low-income housing development project that is being held up because the USEPA found lead contamination in the site. The SCCC wants the USEPA to clean up the barrels and the soil and not put a 10 year lien on the property, which would freeze any further work on the site. The SCCC also wants to create a task force of state and federal officials to deal with such problems in the future.

Syracuse United Neighbors (SUN) will discuss their concerns about pollution in Onondaga Lake. The USEPA approved a plan to build a sewage treatment plant to clean up the lake, but the county government has not disclosed where the pipes would be placed or where the plant would be constructed. There are rumors that neighborhood homes would have to be demolished. SUN's leaders plan to ask the environmental staff from Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D-NY) office to play a leadership role to help resolve this issue.

“We are going to use this workshop to fight for family farmers and clean air and water,” said Larry Ginter, an Iowa CCI member. “We are not only fighting for family farmers, but all rural residents, urban folks and all consumers.”

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