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Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Environment - "One of the state of Ohio's solutions -- transporting future manure to farm fields outside the watershed, including fields in Indiana -- has alarmed some Hoosiers in East Central Indiana."

Updating this August 31 ILB entry headed "We don't need Ohio's environmental problems," this August 30th Muncie Star-Press article by Seth Slabaugh included:

"We have a crisis," Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland said in a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "The economic viability of this region is ultimately linked to the health of this natural resource. We have reached a tipping point where the degraded nature of the lake is causing significant loss to local businesses and the total livelihood of the region." * * *

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) has assisted farmers wanting to transport manure outside of the watershed, the report states.

"However, there are program obstacles when an Ohio farmer makes arrangements for exporting manure to nearby areas in Indiana," the report states. "Therefore, the state ... will request that USDA establish greater flexibility under EQIP cost share to allow for transportation of manure outside of the watershed, including Indiana."

Barbara Sha Cox of Indiana CAFO Watch called the Ohio EPA's recommendation "frightening."

"We must expect IDEM (Indiana Department of Environmental Management) to be very proactive because we have so many CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) in Indiana that we do not need to take Ohio's manure to clean up their watershed," Cox said. "I don't think we have the proper regulations, and we already have so much manure brought over from Ohio."

Given the location of Grand Lake St. Marys, Cox would expect Ohio to increase manure transportation to Adams, Blackford, Delaware, Henry, Jay, Randolph and Wayne counties in Indiana.

"Manure is a valuable fertilizer if used correctly," Cox said, "but when it becomes a waste product that they're trying to get rid of, that's the problem."

When Indiana CAFO Watch proposed regulations requiring a two-mile manure-application setback around Indiana lakes and reservoirs, "we were laughed out of the Legislature," Cox said. "Now maybe the legislation will have a better chance."

She scoffed at the prospect of Jay County taking more manure from Ohio. Jay County has its own 42 confined feeding operations (CFOs) and 44 CAFOs permitted to house 265,583 swine, 6,600 dairy cattle, 1,351 beef cattle and more than 4.2 million chickens.

IDEM spokesman Barry Sneed noted that manure was not the only source contributing to blue-green algal blooms in Grand Lake St. Marys. Other sources include home septic systems, residential lawn fertilizer and commercial fertilizer applied to corn and soybean fields.

"IDEM has no authority to dictate where the (Ohio) manure can go," Sneed said. "If the manure goes to an Indiana CFO/CAFO, the receiving farm would still have to follow the manure management guidelines in their permit. If the manure goes to a farm that is not a CFO/CAFO, IDEM has no authority to govern it unless it is a threat to human health and the environment."

The state chemist is working on a rule to regulate land application of manure regardless of the source.

According to this story today in the Richmond Pal-Item:
Manure application rules have become the province of the Indiana state chemist.
And this issue has been pointed out before. See this Feb. 14, 2010 ILB entry, quoting from a story in the FWJG:
While the Indiana Department of Environmental Management is responsible for protecting water quality, the Office of the Indiana State Chemist regulates the storage and use of fertilizers. And last year, legislators passed a law expanding the state chemist authority over fertilizer to include manure, further expanding the state chemist’s responsibility to regulate substances posing environmental threats.
The FWJG story was about the State Chemist rejecting a Steuben County effort to protect its lakes from pollution....

Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 7, 2010 03:22 PM
Posted to Environment