Factory farms secure exemption from pollution controls
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is cutting a deal with factory-style farms that will allow them to escape severe penalties for fouling the air and water.In exchange for providing data to fight future pollution, thousands of animal feeding operations will escape big penalties for unbridled animal excrement.
The Environmental Protection Agency agreements cover egg, chicken, turkey, dairy and hog operations. Without the exemptions, the farms might have been slapped with fines up to 27-thousand-500 dollars a day for fouling the air and water.
By signing on, the farms agree to report on data hazardous waste and other emissions. They'll also pay 25-hundred dollars into an E-P-A fund and let E-P-A-approved contractors monitor air quality.
The agreements apply to past offenses and to operations within the next four years.
Source: wboc.com
31 January 2006
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