Manure causes stink for lawmakers and farmers

By Christopher Doering

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Manure generated on large U.S. livestock farms, which can later contaminate soil and water, has lead to a fierce debate over whether farmers and ranchers should be held responsible for cleaning up the mess.

A lawsuit by Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson against Arkansas poultry companies claims phosphorus runoff from their chicken litter has polluted streams and rivers in Oklahoma. The lawsuit includes Tyson Foods Inc., the largest U.S. meat company.

"States like Oklahoma need legal tools to help stop and clean up animal-waste contamination, which is destroying significant and irreplaceable public resources," Edmondson told the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on Thursday.

So-called concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) are becoming more common in the United States, with an estimated 19,000 in existence, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Benjamin Grumbles, assistant administrator for water with the EPA, said states do "have the right to sue" since they are the ones that carry out the programs overseen by the agency.

Bipartisan legislation, introduced in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate earlier this year, would clarify that livestock manure is exempt from the EPA's "Superfund law" created in 1980 to address cleanup of hazardous and toxic chemical spills. Previous efforts to exempt manure from the Superfund law have foundered.

Republican Kit Bond of Missouri said the Superfund law was never intended to be applied to agriculture, and the lawsuit by the state of Oklahoma amounted to nothing more than "litigation gridlock" that will ultimately hurt farmers.

If livestock manure, used mostly by farmers as a fertilizer, was regulated under the EPA law, virtually every farm could be subject to millions of dollars in liabilities and penalties, supporters of the legislation say.