Layoffs keep Ohio from using federal money to control runoff from farms

In November the U.S. Department of Agriculture made $320 million available to 12 states to help curb agriculture runoff near 41 priority watersheds, but one of those states, Ohio, will forgo the funding this year because it doesn't have the staff tackle the problem. Layoffs among area soil and water conservation staffers who would recruit farmers to adopt practices that "prevent, control and trap" nutrient runoff will keep the state from pursuing the funding to help clean the Upper Great Miami River watershed, Tom Beyerlein of the Dayton Daily News reports. The watersheds were chosen for their pollution's risk to the Gulf of Mexico.

Ohio Enivronmental Protection Agency officials tested water in 26 sub-watersheds in 2008 and 2009 and found "almost two-thirds of the sub-watersheds failed to meet state and federal standards for recreational use because of fecal bacterial contamination, while 16 percent didn’t meet standards to support aquatic life," Beyerlein writes. Ohio EPA enviornmental specialist Greg Buthker told Beyerlein the state faces stiff resistance from local farmers in addressing the runoff problem. "We’ve got our work cut out for us to get some better practices to keep the sediment on the farm," he said. "If the farmers don’t want to cooperate, there’s nothing we can do. It’s a free country."

Larry Antosch of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation told Beyerlin said his group’s 235,000 members support measures to keep fertilizer out of the water, but they favor "flexible" programs tailored to their operations instead of "one-size-fits-all" regulatory solutions. "If you had one number (of allowable nutrient runoff) for the state, you may be setting a standard that’s unrealistic for the more productive parts," he told Beyerlein. (Read more)