skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Saturday, July 6, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

MI empowers disadvantaged communities for clean energy; Biden high-stakes interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos set to broadcast tonight; Report: National project helps MN push back against deforestation; NE crisis response system needs bolstering,

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

President Biden rushes to reassure a weary party and public, Pennsylvania lawmakers want to prevent state-supported schools divesting from Israel and abortion-related ballot measures could be on the ballot in a dozen states.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

A new wildfire map shows where folks are most at risk of losing a home nationwide, rural North Carolina groups promote supportive and affordable housing for those in substance-abuse recovery, and bookmobiles are rolling across rural California.

Nebraskans Urge Better State Management of Factory Farm Animal Waste

play audio
Play

Tuesday, November 1, 2022   

Clean-water advocates are urging the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy to do more to protect drinking water and soil quality impacted by industrial-scale beef, pork and chicken operations.

Jonathan Leo, of counsel, Richman Law and Policy, points to one proposed operation in Dundy County expected to hold 100,000 cattle per day. He said state regulators need to be vigilant to ensure waste from the facility does not pollute groundwater.

"When you're dealing with an operation of that magnitude, that generates the volume of waste on a daily basis that those entities generate, you need to have those facilities regulated on an individual permit basis, not under a general permit," Leo said.

Leo said he hopes the Department of Environment and Energy will extend protections and increase enforcement where needed, a position echoed by several community and conservation groups at a recent public hearing. An agency spokesperson said they still are reviewing the Dundy facility's request for a general permit, and said they are required by law to make every effort to obtain voluntary compliance prior to initiating enforcement proceedings.

Leo believes the state has relied on voluntary compliance for too long. He noted that over three to four years, state inspectors found repeated violations of Nebraska's air and water quality rules at the AltEn facility in Mead. But only after a freeze caused a major pipe failure, sending millions of gallons of waste toward the Platte River, did the state take action.

"They would get a notice they were in violation, occasionally there was a harsher slap on the wrist." Leo said. There was never any request made by the enforcement agency to the Attorney General's office, to let the attorney general's office know that this was an increasingly growing environmental and public health hazard."

Leo said the state needs to establish "cradle to grave" protections for animal waste management, because no matter how good you are at protecting streams and rivers near the feedlot, all that work goes out the door if you're not managing waste after it leaves the facility.

"If you don't do anything to manage what happens to the waste when it is transferred to farmers off site for them to use on their soil to grow crops, then essentially you're compromising the integrity of your entire system. And you're not being a regulator, and you're not protecting public health and the environment," Leo said.

Disclosure: Richman Law & Policy contributes to our fund for reporting on Consumer Issues, Environment, Environmental Justice, Sustainable Agriculture. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
Alabama community colleges will receive an additional $35 million in state funding for 2025. (Adobe Stock)

play sound

Alabama's universities and community colleges will receive increased funding for 2025. The state's universities are set to get a 7% boost equivalent …


Social Issues

play sound

Data show older voters are an influential demographic in Wyoming elections and a new series of videos asks candidates questions specific to the group…

Environment

play sound

New Mexicans affected by recent wildfires and subsequent flooding may be eligible for Disaster Supplemental Nutritional Program benefits. The …


A Michigan Healthy Climate Plan recommendation is to meet a goal of 100% clean energy no later than 2050. (pinkrabbit/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

The effects of climate change often hit Michigan's most vulnerable communities hardest, prompting state environmental organizations to take action…

Health and Wellness

play sound

Nevada is among a handful of states to add a surcharge to all phone bills intended to help support the state's 988 mental health emergency hotline…

Farmworkers laboring in extreme heat are at risk of heatstroke or even death. (F Armstrong Photo/Adobe Stock)

play sound

The Biden administration is proposing rules to protect workers from extreme heat. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said its …

Environment

play sound

Deforestation remains a concern in the U.S. but success stories are emerging and Minnesota advocates said new achievements bode well for all …

Health and Wellness

play sound

As the summer sun blazes, especially in the Sunshine State, it is easy to get caught up in the fun and excitement of the season. But according to …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021