Friends of Rural New York

Ha! And you thought Spitzer would make a difference!
That putrid odor starts in Albany and floats over the whole of New York State.

Town of New Bremen.  The Lewis County Dairy, a cheese making operation, is dumping their milk waste and chemicals into the Black River and producing noise and a putrid odor (hydrogen sulfide) from their ill-operating waste water digester.  The neighbors have contacted State Police, Town Board officials and DEC law enforcement and water engineers, and from what can be ascertained thus far, it appears that the political influence of the owner of this operation is stalling any enforcement of the correct operation of this facility.

P.S. Batavia NY had a massive well water contamination from a dairy CAFO
that ruined over 60 residential wells just this year.  The taxpayers paid
for the solution and the homeowners had to pay also.

http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/easternsuburbs/story/185997.html

E. coli bacteria has been found in water that comes from wells in the
Town of Alden, a discovery that is concerning town and Erie County
officials.

According to correspondence from the county Health Department that was
read during Monday’s Town Board meeting, a “substantial increase in
positive E. coli samples in the existing private water supply” was
found after water quality was tested.

The letter categorized the discovery as a “real public health
concern.”

Councilman Bill Weber said the discovery was made after the town urged
residents of proposed Water District No. 5 to have their water quality
tested because the U.S. Department of Agriculture said the town could
potentially receive greater funding for the proposed water district if
there was documentation of a water quality issue.

“There is a very serious need for improved water supply,“ the
letter reads. “This is a health factor-based need.”

“This is for people in the southern part of the Alden area who are on
private wells,“ County Public Health Engineer Tom Casey said. “Not
for people who use Erie County water.”

While Casey did say the county found an increase in the amount of E.
coli in residents’ well systems, he was not overly concerned about the
health risk to Alden residents.

“If you ingest [the water] without preparing it, like boiling it, it
is a potential problem,” Casey said. “This can create a problem,
but it’s not that serious unless you come in direct contact with it.”

Bathing with the contaminated water or using it to wash dishes in sudsy
water should not cause a health concern, according to Casey.

Residents of Water District No. 5 who chose to have their water tested
by the county were informed of the test results. However, Weber said
other residents have not had their water tested.

“They are flirting with disaster,” he said. “They can have their
water tested by the county at a reasonable rate. I think it is around
$15.”

Currently, Metzger believes, at least 20 percent of the town’s
population is without usable water. In addition, Metzger said the northeast
end of Marilla, which abuts the southeast portion of Alden, is also in
desperate need of usable water.

Funding for the proposed water district will not only come from grants
and federal assistance, but also from town taxes, said Metzger and
Weber. 

By Shane M. Liebler / The Citizen
Sunday, October 14, 2007 12:10 AM EDT

MONTEZUMA - Dan Randolph was just helping a neighbor with tractor
trouble when he first heard about the hog farm.

It was spring when the Denman Road resident gave a lift to Richard
Snyder, a dairy farmer from nearby East Loop Road. The small talk
progressed to Snyder’s plans to take up pig farming.

A few months later, Randolph was presenting a petition to the Montezuma

Town Board asking to stop Snyder from building a 2,000-head swine
operation.

“I won’t be able to live here if he builds this thing,” said
Randolph,
who has since founded the Environmentally Concerned Citizens of
Montezuma to fight the plan.

He and a growing number of his neighbors feel threatened by the stench
and contamination a swine farm can cause.

The state calls these large farms Concentrated Animal Feeding
Operations. Cayuga County is home to 28 CAFOs, almost all of them
dairy.

Opponents argue the thousands of pounds of waste from these operations
poison water sources and spread airborne illness. Large-scale animal
farms typically store manure in lagoons and use the sludge to fertilize

crops, creating a potential hazard for groundwater by way of runoff.

“We could really put a hurting on the water around here if this gets
out
of hand,” said Randolph, a Port Byron native who has lived on Denman
Road for the past 15 years.

Crane Brook, which empties into the Seneca River, runs through the
proposed site for the swine facility, he said. The environmental group
is also worried about airborne particles that can create health
problems
in addition to the odor.

Randolph has appeared with several dozen supporters at the last few
town
board meetings to ask for a moratorium.

*Glenn Gaston / Special to The Citizen*
a group of concerned residents from the Port Byron and Montezuma area
gather for a meeting to discuss the possibility of a large pig farm
starting in their neighborhood.

“The big thing right now is it’s all talk,” Town Supervisor William

Saroodis said. “He (Snyder) hasn’t even filed for a permit yet, so I
think the cart’s a little ahead of the horse.”

The town board is considering the request to place a moratorium on hog
farm development to allow time for an impact study, he said. The board
meets next on Tuesday.

The town stands to gain little from the farm that would likely lower
nearby property values while enhancing its own, Saroodis said. Beyond a

moratorium, the municipality has almost no say in whether it can be
developed.

The site, a vacant dairy farm near the intersection of East Loop and
Denman roads, is already zoned for agriculture. Snyder, who did not
return phone calls for this story, has yet to purchase the land or
begin
the CAFO permitting process with the state Department of Environmental
Conservation.

“We’re going to take a look at it,” Saroodis said, noting the town
must
proceed cautiously from a legal standpoint if it chooses to impose the
moratorium. “Right now I can see both sides.”

The health effects have long been a part of the political scene in
North
Carolina, where more than 2,000 pig farms supply more than 8,000 waste
lagoons. A 10-year moratorium was followed by legislation passed this
July that bans the expansion or creation of the lagoons.

Ammonia gas released by open-air lagoons combines with other elements
to
create particles linked to lung illness, according to Joe Rudek, a
senior scientist with the national nonprofit Environmental Defense.
Antibiotics used to enhance growth and reproduction while repelling
disease are also introduced to the surrounding environment through the
waste.

“With one hog operation, it’s hard to say what the impact would be,
it’s
really a matter of volume,” Rudek said. “I suppose once you open
the
door, the concern would be other operations could follow.

“There is a tendency of this industry to be concentrated in certain
areas,” he said.

As a matter of logistics, breeding operations are typically located
near
the grow-out and slaughter sites. A heavy concentration of swine farms
can have a large impact, even in communities that already coexist with
dairy farms and other CAFOs.

“Antibiotics are used much more heavily in hogs and poultry then they

are with dairy,” Rudek said. “Many of the antibiotics used are in
the
same family of antibiotics used for human health care.”

Research suggests humans can build up an immunity to antibiotics
through
the second-hand contact, he said. Though expensive, technology exists
to
remove waste from the farm without harming humans or the environment.

“The one lesson we hope comes out of our legislation is the manure
lagoons should be a thing of past,” Rudek said.

The particulars of Snyder’s plan are relatively unknown, but Randolph
has a larger vision in taking a stand against what he calls “factory
farms.”

“This includes a lot of different towns,” Randolph said. “Sure
it’s us
today, but it could be them tomorrow.

“There are a lot of old farms in Conquest and Mentz,” he said.
“They
shouldn’t wait until these things are built to get started.”

Staff writer Shane Liebler can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or
<mailto:shane.liebler@lee.net>

This is one way to get attention.

People need to stop calling the regional office of the DEC and START calling
the Spills Hotline.  They are obligated by law to investigate every
complaint, you get a spills reference number and it’s listed on the DEC
spills database.  You can also FOIL the complete report for any of these
spills and use them for future legal action. The Spills Hotline is
1-800-457-7362.  You don’t have to give your name but they will ask.

This is one way to get attention.

People need to stop calling the regional office of the DEC and START calling
the Spills Hotline.  They are obligated by law to investigate every
complaint, you get a spills reference number and it’s listed on the DEC
spills database.  You can also FOIL the complete report for any of these
spills and use them for future legal action. The Spills Hotline is
1-800-457-7362.  You don’t have to give your name but they will ask.

CAFO Farmers Are on Welfare!

Here are some tax exemption forms the Town of Eden provides for the
local farmers.  The land the manure pits are on that are polluting the
water and air are TAX EXEMPT!  These CAFO’s complain about paying high
property taxes while they are exempt from paying taxes on all the items
listed below.

http://www.edenny.org/assessform.html

1)Application for Tax Exemption of Agricultural and Horticultural
Buildings and Structures
2)Instructions for Application for Tax Exemption of Agricultural and
Horticultural Buildings and Structures
3)Application for Tax Exemption for Farm Silos, Farm Feed Grain Storage
Bins, Commodity Sheds, Bulk Milk Tanks and Coolers, abd
4)Manure Storage and Handling and Facilities
5)Application for Tax Exemption for Reconstructed or Rehabilitated
Historic Barn
6)Instructions for Application for Tax Exemption for Reconstructed or
Rehabilitated Historic Barn
7)Application for Tax Exemption for Temporary Greenhouses
8)Instructions for Application for Tax Exemption for Temporary
Greenhouses