Thursday, May 28, 1998

Ohio Group Opposes Moratorium on Livestock Permits

by Bryan Salvage

The environmental question of large-scale livestock ranches and farms, which has been on the national radar screen since late last year, has reared its head in Ohio politics.

The Ohio Livestock Coalition voiced its opposition on Tuesday to a call for a moratorium on livestock operation permits and the Animal Agriculture Reform Act, introduced earlier this year by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa).

The move came as Harkin and Mary Boyle, a Democratic candidate for the Senate from Ohio, appeared at a news conference in Columbus, Ohio, demanding that Gov. George V. Voinovich stop issuing permits to large-scale farms until environmental restrictions are tightened. Voinovich, a Republican, is running against Boyle in the November election.

Harkin's bill would force large-scale livestock ranches and farms with more than 1,330 hogs, 57,000 chickens, 640 beef cattle or 247 dairy cattle to have mandatory waste plans.

"These operations are so large they are using the environment as a dumping ground," Harkin said at the news conference. "They shop to find a friendly governor who will give a wink and a nod and that is the [state] where they go."

But the Livestock Coalition doesn't see things that way. "A moratorium on livestock operation permits is unwarranted," said David White, the coalition's executive director.

White cited several reasons why a moratorium is not needed:

* According to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency's 1996 Ohio Water Resource Inventory Report, which provides a statewide assessment and summary of the causes and sources of stream impairment, causes of impairment associated with animal agriculture have been identified as representing 1.5 percent of the 6,560 miles of streams and rivers assessed. Septic tanks have been identified as impacting 2.5 percent of the total miles assessed.

* During the past 10 years, the Ohio EPA has had only six formal enforcement actions associated with livestock facilities.

* A majority of the concentrated livestock operations in the state is focused on only two of 88 counties. There are more than 100 lagoons used for animal manure storage in those counties, some more than 25 years old, and no reported problems with leaks, breaks or spills, according to the coalition.

This article reprinted with permission from Meat Marketing and Technology Magazine.

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