Washington Ordered To Rewrite CAFO Permits

Last month, the Washington State Pollution Control Hearings Board ordered state officials to rewrite pollution discharge permit regulations for concentrated animal feeding operations, better known as CAFOs.  The order was issued after a challenge from environmental groups that complained that previous regulations violated state and federal law.  The complaint alleged that the state failed to control the discharge of excess nutrients, bacteria, and other pollutants from dairies.

Tyler Lobdell with the Washington D.C.-based environmental organization Food & Water Watch says the state must better protect its water, wildlife and communities.

"The state of Washington hasn't been requiring what are called nutrient management plans or the newer pollution prevention plans to be robustly developed by every CAFO, and they haven’t required those plans to be available to the public to make sure they’re actually doing what they’re supposed to do."

Lobdell said it's essential that the order stipulates the public's right to review and comment on all regulations before they are issued, noting that the state has a poor track record of protecting waterways from nitrate pollution.  He said having the EPA involved strengthens the process.

"The state of Washington issues a single, combined permit that covers both the Federal Clean Water Act, which is authority delegated by U.S. EPA to Department of Ecology, but it also covers Washington state law, which is more expansive."

Last month’s ruling orders the state Department of Ecology to require CAFOs to control pollution from animal waste runoff.

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