Only six dairy farms remain in Essex County, Massachusetts, a jurisdiction of 500,000 north of Boston. But when the county Board of Health proposed to regulate cow manure, to protect groundwater that supplies the town of Rowley, near the coast (Encarta map), dairy farmers, horse owners and their allies raised quite a stink and prevailed, reports Lynne Hendricks for the Daily News of Newburyport.
"Though the board effectively shelved the proposed regulations from last week and approached this week's meeting in the spirit of compromise, some of those present found it hard not to call attention to the proposed regulations, which they say would severely harm their livelihoods if enacted," Hendricks wrote. Farmer Sam Herrick told the board, "What you're saying you're concerned with now has been our primary concern for 20 years. We've had a manure management plan for the past 10 years." (Read more)
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