Please leave this field empty
Donate Monthly Make a Gift Renew Your Membership Ways to Give
Food & Water Watch Food & Water Watch Food & Water Watch
  • About
  • Problems
  • Campaigns
  • Impacts
  • Research
  • Contact
Donate Monthly Make a Gift Renew Your Membership Ways to Give
  • facebook
  • twitter
Please leave this field empty
Food & Water Watch Food & Water Watch
$
Menu
  • About
  • News
  • Research Library
  • Contact
  • Careers
  • Donate
Search
Please leave this field empty
  • facebook
  • twitter

New Lawsuit Demands Accountability for Factory Farm Pollution on the Eastern Shore

Food & Water Watch and Assateague Coastal Trust, represented by lawyers at the Columbia Law School Environmental Clinic, announced they filed opening arguments in a case against the Maryland Department of Environment (MDE) last Friday that tries to force the Agency to demand more accountability from the highly polluting factory farm industry on the Eastern Shore.

  • facebook
  • twitter
  • google-plus
  • envelope

We all need safe food and clean water.

Donate
06.1.15

Baltimore – These facilities, also known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), currently operate under Clean Water Act (CWA) discharge permits issued by MDE that provide for minimal inspection and no water quality monitoring to assure compliance.

“The permits that MDE gives to these industrial facilities do not allow for any discharges of pollutants from their production areas, but we know these facilities are one of the biggest contributors in Maryland to the Bay’s ongoing pollution problem,” stated Scott Edwards, co-founder of Food & Water Justice, the legal arm of Food & Water Watch. “The lack of oversight and monitoring means the permits are little more than symbolic gestures, under which factory farms can continue to pollute at will.”

The Problem with Nutrient Pollution from Factory Farms in Maryland

A March 2015 United States Geological Survey report singles out industrial agriculture on Maryland’s Eastern Shore as a dominant source of that state’s contribution to the ongoing Bay problem, noting the concentrations of nitrogen in groundwater, and nitrogen and phosphorus in surface waters, are well above natural levels and are among the highest in the nation. The amount of pollution flowing off these facilities persists despite historic levels of federal and state funding for the industry to implement failing conservation practices, even as this industry launches an unprecedented expansion across Delmarva.

Under the CWA, all permitted industries must monitor and report their pollution discharges to show that they are in compliance with the terms of the permit. “The only industry that gets away without monitoring its discharges is the factory farm industry,” said Kathy Phillips, Assateague Coastal Trust Executive Director. “That means that they can never be held accountable for polluting like other industries are, and the results of this irresponsible exemption are clearly evident in the Bay.”

National Context

Only one state in the country, California, requires permitted factory farms to sample water from the ditches that carry pollution to our streams and rivers. The current Maryland permitting program never requires factory farms owners and operators to check their discharges for pollution.

Despite the documented impact factory farms are having on the Bay and waterways across the country, where industrial agriculture is the largest source of nutrient pollution, both our federal and state environmental agencies continue to pursue negligent oversight and enforcement policies, according to the lawsuit. Just last week, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a new “Waters of the U.S.” rule that purports to improve the quality of our nation’s waterways, but leaves 40 percent of them unprotected. According to EPA’s own rule factsheet, the rule expands industrial agricultural exemptions from regulation, while providing no new requirements for the industry, instead relying on voluntary pollution control measures.

Recent reports, like the December 2013 Government Accountability Office Report to Congress on the need for changes to the Clean Water Act, illustrate how voluntary nonpoint pollution source controls only result in a 20 percent water quality compliance rate while mandatory point source control approaches lift the compliance rate to 83 percent.

“Once again, the Agency took care to ensure that the largest source of pollution to our waterways remains deregulated,” says Michele Merkel, also co-director of Food & Water Watch’s Food & Water Justice. “As long as EPA and MDE continue to turn a blind eye to industrial agriculture, our waterways, including the Bay, will continue to spiral downwards. We have spent decades providing many millions of taxpayers’ dollar to the agricultural industry in the hope that our waterways will improve through voluntary pollution reduction measures to little or no avail.”

“This law suit is about bringing some responsibility to an industry that currently has none,” stated Kathy Phillips. “It’s about bringing some of the things that have worked so well with so many other industries to our biggest pollution problem – industrial agriculture. As long as this industry continues to be unaccountable, our waterways and communities will continue to suffer.”

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version

Monsanto's Roundup is a "probable human carcinogen." We need to ban it!

Get the latest on your food and water with news, research and urgent actions.

Please leave this field empty

Latest News

  • Trump’s Out, Biden’s In! Now The Fight Of Our Lives On Climate Begins.

    Trump’s Out, Biden’s In! Now The Fight Of Our Lives On Climate Begins.

  • Biden’s 100-Day Must-Do List for a Cleaner, Healthier Country

    Biden’s 100-Day Must-Do List for a Cleaner, Healthier Country

  • Fracking, Federal Lands, And Follow-Through: Will President Biden Do What He Promised?

    Fracking, Federal Lands, And Follow-Through: Will President Biden Do What He Promised?

See More News & Opinions

For Media: See our latest press releases and statements

Food & Water Insights

Looking for more insights and our latest research?

Visit our policy & research library
  • Renewable Natural Gas: Same Ol' Climate-Polluting Methane, Cleaner-Sounding Name

  • The Case to Ban Fracking on Federal Lands

  • Dangerously Deep: Fracking’s Threat to Human Health

Fracking activist with stickersFracking activist in hatLegal team loves family farmsFood & Water Watch organizer protecting your food

Work locally, make a difference.

Get active in your community.

Food & Water Impact

  • Victories
  • Stories
  • Facts
  • Trump, Here's a Better Use for $25 Billion

  • Here's How We're Going to Build the Clean Energy Revolution

  • How a California Activist Learned to Think Locally

Keep drinking water safe and affordable for everyone.

Take Action
food & water watch logo
en Español

Food & Water Watch mobilizes regular people to build political power to move bold & uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water, and climate problems of our time. We work to protect people’s health, communities, and democracy from the growing destructive power of the most powerful economic interests.

Food & Water Watch is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

Food & Water Action is a 501(c)4 organization.

Food & Water Watch Headquarters

1616 P Street, NW,
Washington, DC 20036

Main: 202.683.2500

Contact your regional office.

Work with us: See all job openings

  • Problems
    • Broken Democracy
    • Climate Change & Environment
    • Corporate Control of Food
    • Corporate Control of Water
    • Factory Farming & Food Safety
    • Fracking
    • GMOs
    • Global Trade
    • Pollution Trading
  • Solutions
    • Advocate Fair Policies
    • Legal Action
    • Organizing for Change
    • Research & Policy Analysis
  • Our Impact
    • Facts
    • Stories
    • Victories
  • Take Action
    • Get Active Where You Live
    • Organizing Tools
    • Find an Event
    • Volunteer with Us
    • Live Healthy
    • Donate
  • Give
    • Give Now
    • Give Monthly
    • Give a Gift Membership
    • Membership Options
    • Fundraise
    • Workplace Giving
    • Planned Giving
    • Other Ways to Give
  • About
  • News
  • Research Library
  • Contact
  • Careers
  • Donate
Learn more about Food & Water Action www.foodandwateraction.org.
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • 2021 © Food & Water Watch
  • www.foodandwaterwatch.org
  • Terms of Service
  • Data Usage Policy