Fertilizer
Maryland’s Outsized Manure Problem
(Posted by Dawn Stoltzfus.)
Today, standing in front of the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, to represent the enormous amount of chicken litter produced each year in Maryland (a pile twice as high as the stadium!), Environment Maryland released a new report detailing the problems with Maryland’s current manure regulations and, in particular, with too much phosphorus in our soil and our waterways, including the Chesapeake Bay.
Read MoreSenior Scientists & Policymakers Continue Press for Revised Nutrient Management Regulations
(Posted by Dawn Stoltzfus.)
Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley is generally viewed as a friend of the environment. He has championed initiatives on growth, wastewater treatment, renewable energy, climate change, funding for environmental programs and other issues. He earned a grade of B+ from the Maryland League of Conservation Voters. But, many believe that the Administration has done too little to address Chesapeake Bay pollution from the agriculture sector, which accounts for nearly half of the pollution entering the bay.
A revision of rules regulating the spreading of manure on farmland is long overdue. Here is a recent letter from the Executive Committee of the Senior Scientists and Policymakers for the Bay urging the Governor to issue rules that treat manure in much the same way as sewage sludge.
Read MoreKeeping CAFOs Undercover: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell & Keep Polluting
(Posted by Scott Edwards.)
Next year will mark the 40th anniversary of the Clean Water Act. In the four decades since this seminal water protection legislation was passed, there has been tremendous headway in controlling many of the worst sources of industrial toxics in our nation’s waterways, particularly from those end-of-the-pipe “point sources.” Unfortunately, though, there’s one industrial point source that continues to evade any meaningful CWA regulation — Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs. Now, after many years of failing to implement effective CWA provisions to clean up this highly polluting industry, the Environmental Protection Agency is engaging in an information gathering process to consider how best to regulate the country’s tens of thousands of industrial animal farms. Sadly, all indications are that EPA is still not taking its mission seriously when it comes to CAFOs.
O’Malley Piles On
(Posted by Tom Horton.)
Governor Martin O’Malley presumably thinks he’s helping Maryland poultry growers and processors by pressuring the University of Maryland’s environmental law clinic to drop out of a lawsuit aimed at stopping chicken farms from polluting.
But the pollution is real, it’s substantial and it’s not going to get better until the governor and agricultural interests acknowledge we have a problem with too much poultry manure.
Read MoreA Chemical Reaction
For those who dream of a chemical-free Cheasapeake Bay, this guest post from Safelawns.org founder Paul Tukey demonstrates that dreams can, in fact, come true.
The topic of what, exactly, facilitates real change in human habits has been the focus of behavioral scientists, political pundits and clever marketers for as long as we’ve had a mature free market system in North America. In the non-profit world, where resources are scarce, almost by definition, we’re constantly looking for ways to get our message its proverbial 15 minutes in the limelight. Often, we’re lucky to grab 15 seconds of someone’s attention, so our message better damn well be clear.
At SafeLawns.org, founded in Maine and Washington, D.C., in 2006 to reduce the toxic load on our backyard lawns, business and college campuses and public parks, we’ve taken many of our cues from a lone Canadian doctor. A quarter century ago, when Dr. June Irwin, a dermatologist, heard the renowned author and activist Gordon Sinclair say that “letters to the editor are free,” she took it to heart.
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