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Opposition to CAFOs mounts in the Midwest and scientists speak out against WHO draft guidelines for PFAS in drinking water.

Opposition to CAFOs mounting in US Midwest

For decades, Americans have mostly turned a blind eye to the industrial-scale livestock production operations that churn out cheap supplies of meat and dairy for the masses. Occasional opposition to local pollution problems and the casual animal cruelty that characterize conventional US dairy, hog, and poultry production did little to alter practices that have become embedded in the rural landscape.

But that may be changing. A new wave of frontline resistance is now breaking across the Upper Midwest and around the country as organized campaigns aimed at regulating concentrated animal feeding operations, known as CAFOs, are being felt at every level of government, and in state and federal courts. 

Opposition to large livestock operations is more intense than at any time in recent memory, say environmental advocates.

“It’s been building and building,” said Rob Michaels, an attorney for the Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC), a Chicago-based legal group working to limit CAFO manure discharges in Ohio and Michigan. “It’s now being raised as a political issue. As a legal issue. As a legislative issue.”

On October 19, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling that lends legal muscle to a five-year old petition that Food & Water Watch and 36 allies filed to compel the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue new rules that limit discharges of CAFO wastes into waters. The court said the plaintiff’s petition “raises issues that warrant an answer” from the agency. A Food & Water Watch attorney said the Justice Department has been in touch to schedule a negotiating meeting.

A week later, Earthjustice, a nonprofit public interest law group, and 50 allied non-profit and citizen organizations from around the US filed a separate petition calling on the EPA to improve its oversight of water pollution from CAFOs. The groups pointed out that while large CAFOs make up less than 1% of farms in the US, the animals confined at the industrial facilities produce approximately one-third of all manure from farms nationwide, and a single large CAFO can generate as much waste as a city.

An EPA spokesman said the agency would not comment on the legal filings. (Read the rest of the story.)

Scientists speak out against WHO draft guidelines for PFAS in drinking water

The World Health Organization (WHO) is ignoring risks to human health posed by two toxic types of PFAS chemicals, and is failing to propose properly protective measures in draft guidelines for drinking water standards, a group of more than 100 scientists alleged in a letter issued this month.

The 116 scientists – all experts on per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – said in the Nov. 10 letter that the WHO guidelines should either be “significantly revised” or withdrawn. The group cited examples of areas where they said the WHO has omitted or obscured “strong evidence” of the links between adverse health problems and the PFAS compounds known as PFOS and PFOA. The WHO did not respond directly to criticisms expressed by the scientists in their letter.

“WHO has ignored the last 20 years of scientific research, ranging from observational human studies, animal studies, and mechanistic studies, and concluded that there’s not enough information,” said Linda Birnbaum, former director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and one of the signatories on the letter to WHO.

“I don’t understand how they could have come up with this [draft] using an independent group of scientists,” she added. “My impression is that people who consult largely for industry are the people who are involved in writing this. It’s very, very concerning.”

The WHO may release its final drinking water guidelines for PFOS and PFOA as early as December, and some fear the guidance could undermine proposed regulations expected from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before the end of the year.

PFAS chemicals help products resist heat, oil, stains, and water and are found in everything from nonstick pans to takeout containers to rain coats. PFOS and PFOA, the best-studied PFAS, have been linked to cancers and other serious health problems. PFAS have been increasingly detected in drinking water across the US, and some states have proposed or adopted drinking water limits for these toxic chemicals. However, until the EPA issues its final regulations, there are no federally enforceable standards for PFAS in drinking water. (Read the rest of the story.)