Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Iowa Policy Project Study: Taxpayers Shell Out $60 Million to Clean Up Kansas CAFO Mess
What will it cost New York taxpayers to clean up the aquifer in Cortland County?
THINK TANK QUESTIONS WATER QUALITY AND TAXPAYER COSTS FROM CAFOS
An Iowa-based think tank issued a report recently stating that the large amount of animal waste produced by CAFOs can have serious long-term consequences for human health as well as broader socioeconomic effects. The report focuses on the impact of CAFOs in Iowa, but also generalizes many of the findings to CAFOs throughout the US. The human health impacts discussed in the report include nutrients, ammonia, pathogens, antibiotics, hormones, and other elements from animal waste that show up in groundwater, and therefore human drinking water. Underscoring the report from Senator Tom Harkin, the Iowa Policy Project study also cites several other research studies in which local economies are hurt by the introduction and growth of CAFOs in the area. Moreover, the author also shows evidence of remediation costs falling on taxpayers, including $60 million of public money spent in Kansas to remove or contain nitrogen in the groundwater caused by CAFOs. Finally, the report includes the degradation in quality of life often experienced by neighbors of CAFOs because of noxious odors, limited access to the outdoors, and other issues.
FROM: Farmed Animal Watch