Minnesota regulators unveil tougher water permit requirements for CAFO’s
Minnesota will soon hold public hearings on proposed water permit changes as it seeks to get control of nitrate pollution from industrial farms.
This week, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency released its plan to overhaul standards for a pair of water permits issued to the largest animal feedlots in the state. The main focus is livestock operations in areas vulnerable to groundwater pollution. The farms would have to adopt certain practices related to manure application in the fields.
Joy Anderson, supervising attorney at the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, calls the plan a commonsense approach to a pervasive problem. She hopes the public takes notice of what is happening.
“People who care about Minnesota’s drinking water, people who care about the swimability and fishability of our water,” Anderson explained.
Organizations like hers urged residents to speak up during public hearings scheduled for July. Comments can also be submitted to the agency until Aug. 9. The proposed changes are expected to face strong pushback from those representing so-called factory farms. Despite the hope from plan supporters, the changes would only apply to about 5% of livestock feedlots in Minnesota.
Past efforts to enact modest permit changes resulted in outcry from industrial ag interests. Anderson admitted the proposed changes cover a limited number of farms but added they send a signal regulators realize the scope of the contaminated water crisis linked to nitrate pollution.
“This is sort of a first step,” Anderson asserted. “It tells us the MPCA is at least a little serious about making some changes.”
Her group hopes what is unfolding now leads to rule changes covering all the state’s 17,000 feedlots, also known as concentrated animal feeding operations. This week’s move follows a recent order from the federal Environmental Protection Agency for Minnesota to clean up contaminated drinking water in the southeastern part of the state, caused by farm runoff.
