WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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Republican Senator Rick Niemeyer authored senate bill 248 for annual inspections of concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFO’s.
This bill would require state mandated, onsite, annual inspections by the Indiana environmental management agency. Inspections would be performed in large, medium and small CAFO facilities. The Senate Bill defines a large CAFO as “at which more than 1,000 head of beef cattle, 700 dairy cows, 2,500 swine weighing more than 55 pounds, or 125,000 broiler chickens are confined onsite for more than 45 days during a year.” A small CAFO is defined as “at which fewer animals are confined than at a medium CAFO but which has been determined to be a significant contributor of pollutants to waters of the United States.” A medium CAFO falls in between the two.
CAFO’s confine large amounts of animals without vegetation producing an overwhelming amount of waste. The Sierra Club says “The amount of urine and feces produced by the smallest CAFO is equivalent to the quantity of urine and feces produced by 16,000 humans.” The waste contains chemicals, cleaning products, heavy metals, hormones and much more which finds its way into water ways. This concentrated amount of contaminated waste can cause toxic reactions in humans. The contaminants also effect freshwater, wildlife health, and marine ecosystems. Therefore, contaminants build up around the meat you eat, the water you drink, and the seafood you crave.
The proposed yearly Inspections could possibly encourage cleaner food production from CAFOs.
