ELMWOOD, IL -- Here's frightening information on CAFO proliferation from environmental activist Karen Hudson. She is an Illinois farmer, co-founder of Illinois Citizens for Clean Air and Water, and Regional Consultant for the Socially Responsible Agricultural Project.
I recently discovered a Food & Water Watch website with some messy statistics:
- There is one factory farmed hog for every three people in Illinois.
- The number of factory farmed hogs in Illinois grew by 22 percent to 3.9 million between 1997 and 2007.
- The size of average Illinois egg factory farms nearly doubled to nearly 821,000 million hens between 1997 and 2007.
- In 2009, an Iroquois County hog operation manure spill tainted 19-miles of a local stream, killing fish for several days, including the native northern pike.
- In 2008, the Illinois EPA investigated an estimated 90,000-gallon manure spill from a 6,000-head Adams County hog facility after construction equipment broke a sewer line.
- The 3.9 million hogs, nearly 150,000 beef cattle, 12,000 dairy cows, and 4.9 million egg-laying hens produce as much untreated manure as 89 million people — nearly 7 times the Illinois population.
Where are all the factory farms in Illinois? The Illinois EPA (IEPA) still has no idea. In early February, the Illinois Citizens for Clean Air and Water (ICCAW) and other groups filed comments to the Illinois Pollution Control Board (IPCB) due to IEPA's lack of an accurate inventory of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in Illinois.
ICCAW performed vigorous independent research using Illinois Department of Agriculture datasets obtained via the FOIA, Secretary of State Information, and GIS mapping in an attempt to compile a correct accounting of CAFOs in Illinois. Astonishingly, we discovered as many as 560 CAFOs statewide, while the IEPA's inventory only accounts for 254.
This is just a snapshot of the deficiencies revealed by ICCAW's independent research. IEPA blames a lack of personnel and resources as their excuse and claims they will complete an accounting only as new complaints filter in about existing facilities and as existing resources allow for inspections.
More than three years ago, the IEPA agreed to complete a comprehensive inventory of CAFOs after ICCAW filed a citizen complaint with the U.S. EPA under provisions of the Clean Water Act, which triggered a federal investigation.
As a result, the federal EPA awarded a failing grade to the agency due to the lack of regulation of CAFOs. IEPA continues to resist an IPCB reporting rule that will finally lead to an accurate accounting of all CAFOs in Illinois and demonstrates a lack of commitment in regulating these massive operations that pollute land, air and water. (italics mine)
Even worse, a hog factory farm has been proposed for Menard county, near the historic site of Abraham Lincoln's New Salem home. The operation would house more than 9,000 animals. It would cause problems such as contaminated wells, polluted rivers and streams, degraded water supplies and the risk of antibiotic resistant pathogens.
There are many articles and documentaries that explain how modern factory farms abuse animals, but one relatively painless way of getting the message is through The Meatrix ®, an award-winning series of short animated movies about problems created by industrial agriculture.
You can connect with ICCAW on their Facebook page here. Another organization fighting against factory farm animal mistreatment is Crate Free Illinois, which also has a Facebook page.
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