EPA starts civil enforcement against Iowa beef feedlots as part of crackdown on water pollution

The Environmental Protection Agency has taken a series of civil enforcement actions against eight beef feedlots in Northwest Iowa for violations of the Clean Water Act. The moves are "part of the agency’s continuing initiative that hopes to end harmful discharges of pollutants from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) into the area’s waterways," Lynda Waddington of The Iowa Independent reports. Karl Brooks, regional EPA administrator, said the agency has two goals, enforcing the Clean Water Act and educating about the benefits of cleaner water, and "Responsible livestock producers understand and work with the agency to advance both goals." (Read more)

The Iowa violations come after EPA announced in May it increase monitoring of CAFO pollution as part of a settlement with National Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club and Waterkeeper Alliance, Tom Johnston of Meatingplace reported. "Under today's settlement, EPA will initiate a new national effort to track down factory farms operating without permits and determine for itself if they must be regulated," EPA said in a news release. "The specific information that EPA will ultimately require from individual facilities will be determined after a period of public comment. But the results of that investigation will enable the agency and the public to create stronger polluting controls in the future and make sure facilities are complying with current rules." (Read more)