Friend,

Large-scale factory farms and confined feedlot operations have become the biggest source of water pollution in the United States.1,2

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced plans to monitor factory farm pollution back in 2005 -- but it has yet to actually do so.3 We can't afford to wait any longer.

Will you join us in calling on the EPA to regulate factory farm pollution?

Factory farms, also known as concentrated animal feeding operations or CAFOs, generate millions -- if not billions -- of gallons of waste each year. In fact, the largest factory farm has been known to generate up to 369 million tons of waste per year. And while every animal produces waste, this level of highly concentrated manure can wreak serious havoc on the health of the environment and on the public.4

When massive amounts of fertilizer, animal waste and other pollutants aren't managed properly, they foul our waterways and release harmful chemicals like ammonia and methane into the environment. Extended exposure to these potent chemicals can result in serious health consequences such as asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia and other respiratory diseases.5

Additionally, animal waste can leach toxic heavy metals and nitrates into waterways. Elevated nitrate levels in our drinking water can be dangerous for our health, and even cause low oxygen levels in infants and low birth weight.6

Tell the EPA: Regulate factory farm pollution today.

These risks are why the EPA announced plans to monitor factory farm pollution almost 20 years ago. However, the agency has yet to release finalized plans to observe factory farm pollution and ultimately make decisions based off of the observations. This delay has allowed factory farms to continue emitting hazardous pollutants without sufficient oversight.7

It's the EPA's duty to hold major polluting industries responsible and to safeguard public health and the environment in the process.

Call on the EPA to monitor factory farm pollution to protect public health and the health of the environment.

Thank you,

Faye Park
President

1. Liza Gross, "Groups urge the EPA to do it's duty: Regulatee factory farm emissions," Inside Climate News, October 29, 2021.
2. "Agriculture: cause and victim of water pollution, but change is possible," Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, August 27, 2017.
3. Liza Gross, "Groups urge the EPA to do it's duty: Regulate factory farm emissions," Inside Climate News, October 29, 2021.
4. "Agriculture: cause and victim of water pollution, but change is possible," Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, August 27, 2017.
5. Liza Gross, "Groups urge the EPA to do it's duty: Regulate factory farm emissions," Inside Climate News, October 29, 2021.
6. "Agriculture: cause and victim of water pollution, but change is possible," Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, August 27, 2017.
7. Liza Gross, "Groups urge the EPA to do it's duty: Regulate factory farm emissions," Inside Climate News, October 29, 2021.