Ethanol and Intensive Confinement Factory Farms--A Toxic Synergy

Typography
CAFO's = Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations Also known as Factory Farms, Animal Factories, and blots on the U.S. rural landscape. They produce smelly wastes from "farm" animals including cattle and pigs -- variable wastes that are then disposed of in a wildly under-regulated, chemical witches brew commonly called Sludge. Also commonly mislabeled "Fertilizer," it's hazardously dumped in enormous quantities on U.S. food-growing farm fields.

CAFO's = Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations

Also known as Factory Farms, Animal Factories, and blots on the U.S. rural landscape. They produce smelly wastes from "farm" animals including cattle and pigs -- variable wastes that are then disposed of in a wildly under-regulated, chemical witches brew commonly called Sludge. Also commonly mislabeled "Fertilizer," it's hazardously dumped in enormous quantities on U.S. food-growing farm fields.

DG = Distillers Grains or Distillery Garbage

This is the variable -- and also wildly under-regulated waste product -- coming from ethanol distilleries. It's commonly and increasingly being disposed of by feeding it to animals confined within nearby CAFO's. Under recent criticism for contributing to unprecedented recalls of tainted beef, the practice of using DG as cattle feed is endorsed by agricultural agencies that also encourage disposing of chicken manure by feeding it to cattle.

 44 CAFO PERMITS IN AN INDIANA COUNTY:

The concern is odor control, quantity and quality of water (also concern of water use by ethanol plant), devaluation of homes, setbacks from residential homes, schools, churches, towns, cities, etc....

There are permits for 44 CAFOs....

What will happen to our schools, towns when we have more hogs than people?

-- From Attachment 1, below

 SOME NEW-YORK-STATE ETHANOL/CAFO EXPERIENCES:

Every single square foot of my house has a garbage fly on it in the Summer and I'm almost a mile away from a CAFO.

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This is a huge problem that will only get worse as the ethanol industry produces cow and hog feed as a waste product. Anywhere near an ethanol plant or proposed ethanol plant is sure to have massive CAFOs either being built or existing dairy operations expanding. The sad fact is that all of this environmental destruction is being funded with massive taxpayer subsides and Gov Spitzer is a huge CAFO supporter. Rural NY is rapidly turning into an open sewer. It stinks!

-- From a December 23, 2007 post by ItSmellsBad at this City-Data forum: http://www.city-data.com/forum/new-york/218489-specific-c...

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Eliot Spitzer is a huge proponent of the CAFO Factory Farming method and recently pushed $30,000,000 additional state tax dollars for expansion funding. It's part of his revitalize rural NY program. It's also the reason why he wanted drivers licenses for illegals because most of these factory farms employ illegals and the Farm Bureau lobbys hard for it. Nobody wants to work in a place that smells like a Third World country except those from the Third World. The Finger Lakes and Western NY are the worst areas but there are many other areas getting pretty bad. Anywhere you see an ethanol plant in NY is sure to have many factory farms near it as the byproduct of Ethanol is low grade cattle feed. It's a total disgrace.

-- From a January 9, 2008 post by edenresident at this City-Data forum: http://www.city-data.com/forum/new-york/228485-map-ny-fac...

 AN INDIANA WIN OVER FOREIGN "CAFO PEOPLE":

We fought these people in Grant County [Indiana] and won. It was us against big foreign corporations.... We were fighting for our homes and children's health. The CAFO people are (were) terrorist in every sense of the word.

John Grisham could not have written a story of such magnitude. The foreigners were from Holland with ties to the Nazi's back in WWII.... Further research found that many of the CAFO practices are similar to procedures once used in concentration camps....

They found small farmers in financial trouble and recruited them for the CAFO people. They, in-turn, offered the farmers a 10 yr contract for their land and job opportunities as indentured servants....

Luckily, for us, it was a county election year. None of our public officials had the "right stuff" to sacrifice their seats for their new-found foreign friends. Neither Mitch [Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels] nor his Witch were able to make them eat CAFO waste.

-- From a Febuary 6, 2008 comment posted following "State regulation not good option for CAFOs," at this site of The Star Press, Muncie, Indiana:  http://www.thestarpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20...ETC:
We believe that Bion's technology platform allows the integration of ethanol production, renewable energy production and on-site energy utilization with large-scale CAFO's.

-- From "Item 1. Description of Business. General," at this June 30, 2007 site of Bion Envronmental Technologies Inc.: http://www.secinfo.com/d16hwz.u7p.htm - - -

CAFO factory owners are not farmers.

-- From a December 26, 2007 post by Jol of Utica, Michigan; at this Pana, Illinois Topix site of "Ethanol boom a mixed bag":  http://www.topix.com/forum/city/pana-il/TRL50AK2TGG7GQ143

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ATTACHMENT 1 of 1 Palladium-Item, Richmond, Indiana Friday, February 29, 2008 http://www.pal-item.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200802...

WRITER ASKS STATE TO SHARE CONCERNS OF RANDOLPH CO. RESIDENTS

The Randolph County moratorium was placed so that impartial information can be gathered and regulations put in place so that residents can live in their homes as they have before the CAFOs arrived. The concern is odor control, quantity and quality of water (also concern of water use by ethanol plant), devaluation of homes, setbacks from residential homes, schools, churches, towns, cities, etc.

I received information from an AG liaison of IDEM that there are permits for 44 CAFOs, 228,000 hogs, 100,000 chickens and a dairy want-ing to expand in Randolph County and at least three more hog CAFOs are pending.

If this county is going to be suitable for anyone to live here, regulations must be made and enforced for the survival of the CAFOs and residents of the county. Families will not consider moving to this county when they are going to be next to a CAFO. What will happen to our schools, towns when we have more hogs than people?

Sarah Simpson of ISDA and Sen. B. Gard of Environmental Quality Council have said that the regulations have to come from local government. All we are asking for are regulations so that we can enjoy our homes and environment. IDEM has permitted CAFOs and, with the investment these people have made, they are not going to leave. Indiana needs to have the same concerns I have.

Kathryn Petry, Greensfork Township