For two years I commuted from Wilmington, NC to work in Greenville, NC, a 2 hour drive. My once-a-week trip took me up I-95, state roads 241 and 41 (not necessarily in that order) and then HWY 11. About 80% of this ride was through the heart of NC's hog country. I usually stopped for gas and a tinkle at the half-way mark, in the little town of Beulaville in Duplin County. Duplin County is the #1 hog county in NC, a big hog state. When you get out of your car in Beulaville, hold your nose -- it's stinky. Kind of smells like hog poop.
That's why the EPA announcement yesterday cheered me up:
The Bush administration will exempt thousands of farms that raise poultry, cattle and hogs from heavy fines for fouling the air and water with animal excrement in exchange for data to help curb future pollution.
The premise is OK. We don't know how bad the air pollution caused by these stinky farms is, we need data, so the EPA is exempting farms in exchange for an air pollution data collection program. After 4 years the poop fine is reinstated:
The agency said its consent agreements with the animal feeding operations would cover more than 6,700 farms in 42 states. The participating farms range from relatively small dairy operations with perhaps five dozen cows to large hog and dairy operations with tens of thousands of animals.
Pollutants to be monitored include soot and volatile organic compounds, as required by the Clean Air Act, and ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, as required by Superfund's emergency reporting provision.
By signing on, the farms agree to abide by clean air, hazardous waste and emergency reporting laws after the data are collected. They would pay $2,500 into an E.P.A. fund and agree to let agency-approved contractors monitor the air. The fund would pay for two years of air monitoring at 28 to 30 farms nationwide at a cost of up to $500,000 each.
Companies also would have to agree to pay civil penalties of $200 to $100,000, depending on the size and number of farms they operate. Those fines would cover presumed violations, past and present.
Without the deal, the air standards would probably take a decade or more to complete, officials said. With it, companies gain some certainty about the science used to set emissions policies.
But it is a deal with the devil. Without the threat of fines it is hard to believe the farms will avoid some of their most stinky practices. Poor Beulaville, and places like it.
