EPA Planes Spying on Ranchers?

by

Northern Ag Network Note:  This story contains two articles.  The first, from msnbc.com, outlines what has been happening with EPA flights over ranches and feedlots and attempts to stop the flights.  The second story outlines the EPA’s response.

“EPA planes spying on ranchers? Lawmakers want answers”

by Miguel Llanos, msnbc.com

A Nebraska cattlemen’s group is pushing the Environmental Protection Agency to stop pollution-control flights over ranches, claiming it amounts to spying on citizens. EPA, meanwhile, says the flights are an effective way to quickly spot — and stop — pollution from manure lagoons and other waste at large livestock operations.

Nebraska’s five federal lawmakers joined the fight this week, demanding to know on what authority EPA is flying over and photographing private property. The lawmakers sent their demands to EPA chief Lisa Jackson on Tuesday, listing a battery of questions and demanding answers by June 10.

EPA has been operating these flights across the country for nearly 10 years.

“These operations are in many cases near homes, and landowners deserve legitimate justification given the sensitivity of the information gathered by the flyovers,” Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., said in a statement. “Nebraskans are rightfully skeptical of an agency which continues to unilaterally insert itself into the affairs of Rural America.”

The issue was brought to the lawmakers’ attention by Nebraska Cattlemen, which represents the state’s beef producers.

“The same ends could be accomplished by picking up a phone, sending an email, talking to a producer in person,” Kristen Hassebrook, the group’s environmental affairs director, told msnbc.com. “There is no need to spy on citizens.”

“Another frustration,” she added, is that “EPA does not alert livestock producers that the flight will occur or has occurred.”

The flights, she insists, found “few potential issues” and EPA usually misinterpreted what was happening on the ground or photographed something that Nebraska regulators were already aware of and working with ranchers on.

EPA plans to respond to lawmakers’ questions by June 10. Spokesman Ben Washburn emphasized that the flights help “minimize costs and reduce the number of on-site inspections across the country.”

“In no case,” he added, “has EPA taken an enforcement action solely on the basis of these overflights.”

EPA met with cattlemen in eastern Nebraska in March to address concerns.

Ron Coufal, who represents cattle feeders in Cuming County, told Brownfield Ag News his concerns were allayed after seeing the photos.

“I can see that it probably is saving our government money by having the overflights and not going to every feedlot to see if they’re in compliance,” he said.

Hassebrook says privacy is the bigger issue.

“Someone’s home, their children’s playground, their decks where they have family parties, are generally right there, smack dab in the middle of their business” and EPA cameras, she said. “Even if it’s not their (EPA’s) primary focus, you still have privacy rights in your home — so I have serious reservations as to whether or not they should be taking such photos.”

#########

 

“EPA responds to concerns about air surveillance in Midwest but questions remain”

The following article is from foxnews.com:

 

The EPA has responded to concerns among Nebraska farmers and their Capitol Hill representatives about the agency’s use of aerial surveillance to monitor livestock, saying the flights are to enforce federal laws regarding impaired watersheds such as rivers and streams.

An Environmental Protection Agency spokesman told FoxNews.com the agency has used the practice for nearly a decade a cost-efficient way for it and state governments to reduce the number of on-site inspections and focus on “areas of the greatest concerns.”

The flights are used across a swath of Midwest the agency calls Section 7, which is composed of Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and  Missouri.

The flights recently attracted the attention of a bipartisan group of Senate and House members from Nebraska, who this week wrote the EPA with a list on nearly two dozen concerns.

 “Farmers and ranchers in Nebraska pride themselves in the stewardship of our state’s natural resources. As you might imagine, this practice has resulted in privacy concerns among our constituents and raises several questions,” sid the letter signed by Nebraska Republican Reps. Adrian Smith, Jeff Fortenberry and Lee Terry, as well as Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson and GOP Sen. Mike Johanns.

The letter sent gave the agency until June 10 to respond.

A congressional aide familiar with the situation said part of the concern is Nebraska’s Department of Environmental Quality has primary jurisdiction over such issues and Region 7 has only an oversight role. As a result, the flights might be undermining the state’s effective enforcement.

The aide also said there have been accusations that the EPA in some cases is levying fines based on aerial photos without on-the-ground inspections.

The agency told FoxNews.com on Thursday that the flights — along with state and other public records — help monitors how animals eat and then excrete waste. But the EPA has never taken enforcement action only on the basis of the flights.

Sources:  msnbc.com, foxnews.com, infowars.com

Posted by Haylie Shipp

 

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x