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The Journal Record
"Either they're going to do it on their own and get the credit for being out
in
front of this issue or we're going to have to eventually deal with it from
the
standpoint of statutes," Griffin said.
The secretary's comments followed a statement by Gov. Frank Keating that
seemed to indicate new hog-and-poultry regulations would soon be proposed.
"It is not in our best interest to have unclean water and unclean air, so
Oklahoma passed the first-in-the-nation poultry regulation bill and the
toughest-in-the-nation swine regulation bill focusing on the purity of water,
and the purity of air," Keating said. "And we're just beginning."
Griffin and Keating's comments also follow several events that have
highlighted continuing pollution problems related to confined feeding
operations in the state.
In July, the Environmental Protection Agency ordered Seaboard Farms, the
state's largest hog producer, to investigate and fix alleged leaks in hog
manure lagoons suspected of contaminating water wells in Major and
Kingfisher counties.
The EPA order marked the first time the federal Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act has been used against a major hog producer. The act typically
applies to hazardous and solid wastes from industry or municipal water
treatment plants. Essentially, the order treated hog effluent as a type of
solid waste , although it's never
before been characterized that way under federal law.
On the other side of the state, Tulsa officials are seeking ways to address
the high levels of
phosphorous in Lake Eucha, a source of water for the city. A 1997 Oklahoma
Conservation Commission study found that average annual phosphorous
concentrations
tripled in the lake between 1975 and 1995. Nitrate-plus-nitrite
concentrations doubled during
the same period. Many officials believe the phosphorous and nitrate levels
are caused by
runoff from chicken litter at nearby farms.
Legal action over contamination of Lake Eucha could have far- reaching
consequences due to
an Oklahoma attorney general's opinion issued in April. The opinion stated
that the large
poultry companies that use "contract growers" in Oklahoma are essentially
employers under
certain circumstances and governed by Oklahoma law, even if the employer is
based
out-of-state. That decision means that many large poultry companies could be
held liable for
environmental damage related to chicken litter instead of just the local
contract grower who
raises the chickens.
Griffin said that decision and related developments are forcing large
poultry companies to take an active part in pollution reduction in Oklahoma.
"I think they are becoming increasingly aware that the tide of public
opinion and legal opinion is turning against them and they can no longer avoid any responsibility for the deleterious consequences of that poultry litter," he said.
He said corporate hog farms in western Oklahoma also feel pressured to
proactively address pollution problems. But Griffin said the farms prompting the EPA 's recent high-profile actions actually represent the exception to the rule in Oklahoma.
"Those hog farms should never have been built where they were," he said.
Griffin said several concentrated hog feeding operations in Kingfisher
County were built before passage of the 1998 regulations and "grandfathered" in to allow their continued existence.
"In today's regime, we wouldn't have those hog farms there," Griffin said.
"They were built over a vulnerable acquifer. The water table's very shallow."
The 1998 law was written to rein in the explosive, largely unrestricted
growth of hog farms in Oklahoma that occurred after 1991, when the Legislature relaxed state restrictions against corporate farming.
Ultimately, Griffin predicted that the EPA 's actions would force hog farms
to prevent pollution of the acquifers that serve as the only water source for much of western Oklahoma.
"I think that ( EPA ) enforcement action will necessitate that they take
serious remedial action to keep this from happening in the future," he said.
Griffin also noted that the hog industry, like poultry growers, is exploring
the bioenergy potential of hog effluent.
"There's a facility in Colorado right now that's generating all of its
electricity needed for its operations and even selling electricity into the grid from its methane generated off the hog lagoons," Griffin said.
However, Griffin admitted that the EPA could potentially force producers to
take drastic and costly actions to prevent the slightest chance of pollution.
He said EPA actions "may necessitate them either building the lagoons above
ground or maybe just holding the effluent in metal or concrete tanks."
Some agriculture officials fear that such requirements could have a
devastating impact on the state's meat producers, since the EPA could require similar measures of any operation that involves animal waste -- not just confined feeding operations.
Some officials also fear that the EPA -- never known for its restraint --
could essentially wrench control of Oklahoma's environmental policy away from local officials.
But Griffin said he expects state law, which he said has made Oklahoma a
"visionary state in animal waste regulation," will be sufficient to protect the environment in a reasonable and balanced manner and keep federal officials at bay.
"I've always tried to balance the need for environmental protection and the
need for economic development in our state," Griffin said. "You can eliminate all
environmental impact from industry and any kind of activity from humans, but then you'll have a very primitive society."
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