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CAFO RULE CHANGES TO BE DISCUSSED AT HEARING
The director of the Alabama Pork Producers, Brian Hardin, was prepared to speak at a hearing to discuss stricter setbacks for concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) Aug. 11, at 10 a.m. at the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) office in Montgomery. This is the first proposed change to CAFO since ADEM adopted the regulations in April 1999. The proposed changes apply only to new and expanding operations. Existing farms would be covered by current regulations.
The proposed changes would increase setbacks between waste lagoons and property lines, streams and wells. Farmers, Alabama Farmers Federation staff members and several environmental groups met with ADEM officials for more than two years to develop the original CAFO rules.
"We believe that farmers are doing a good job of protecting the environment, and we don't believe further regulations are necessary," Hardin said. "We can live with these proposed changes, but if more regulations are handed down, it could put an end to pork production in Alabama."
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