.jpg)
Glamour's Women of the Year
UD vs. Northern Kentucky
Magic visits with area students
U.S. EPA concerns prompt study
Two-year investigation will measure hydrogen sulfide, other chemicals released at farms.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Scientists hope to get a better handle on just how much livestock and poultry farms foul the air through a nationwide study that starts this summer.
The $14.6 million, two-year study is measuring hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, dust and chemicals released from 20 farms in nine states.
Extras
Odor and greenhouse gas emissions also will be monitored as part of other studies.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency "is concerned about volatile organic compounds and ammonia because of the effect those compounds have on human health, even in the city," said Al Heber, the Purdue University professor heading the study.
The extent to which farms contribute to such pollution remains largely unknown, he said.
In Ohio, the former Buckeye Egg Farm released 3.3 million pounds of ammonia in 2000.
That ranked Buckeye Egg, then the nation's fourth largest egg farm, among Ohio's top factories, power plants and other industrial sources.
Ohio's environmental regulations for livestock farms focus mainly on water quality, not air.
The Ohio Department of Agriculture investigates odor and air quality complaints but can do little other than advise farmers how to minimize the problem, department spokesman Bill Schwaderer said.
The U.S. EPA said it won't sue large poultry, swine and dairy farms while they participate in the study if they meet certain conditions.
Participating farms paid a civil penalty of between $200 and $100,000, depending on their size. The farms are funding the study.
Some environmental groups aren't happy with the deal the EPA struck with the livestock industry in order to proceed with the study.
The Sierra Club, for example, has sued the agency over the amnesty program.
"Our concern is ... whether (in the future) EPA will require these large livestock operations to report their emissions," said Ed Hopkins, director of the Sierra Club's environmental quality program. "We fear the answer is that they won't."
Study results will be reviewed by the EPA before being made public, probably in early 2011, Heber said.
