A recent Michigan Supreme Court ruling will implement stricter permit conditions for factory farm waste management in the state. As reported by the Michigan Advance, environmental groups are celebrating the ruling for protecting local waterways, native wildlife, and locals from harmful livestock waste pollution.
The ruling affirmed that the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) had not violated proper rulemaking when implementing new requirements limiting how "concentrated animal feeding operations" store, monitor, and use livestock waste on farms, per the Advance.
"The state Supreme Court got it right," Rob Michaels, managing attorney at the Environmental Law and Policy Center, said in a press release. "We applaud the ruling and look forward to EGLE exercising the full extent of its authority to control the hazardous waste generated by concentrated animal feeding operations and other industrial polluters."
The new EGLE rules were first presented to Michigan industrial-scale livestock farms in 2020 to protect waterways from waste-related pollution. Soon after, the Michigan Farm Bureau, farmers associations, and livestock farms challenged the rule in court. The organizations argued the EGLE failed to follow proper procedures when implementing the new requirements. This litigation was largely seen as a way to delay the implementation of the new rules, according to the Environmental Law and Policy Center.
Currently, there are about 290 large-scale factory farms in Michigan. According to Environmental Law and Policy Center data, these farms produce 17 million more pounds of waste per day than the state's 10 million people. Many farms store this waste in massive liquid manure "lagoons" to later apply to crops as fertilizer.
But officials say too much waste is created by these farms, leading to overfilled waste "lagoons" and over-fertilizing. This can cause harmful waste runoffs into vital waterways, introducing pathogens and other contaminants into the local water supply.
Viruses and bacteria aren't the only concern, either. Livestock waste also contains high phosphorus levels, which can create harmful algal blooms when introduced into water. These toxic colonies of algae can kill wildlife, plants, and even humans. Michigan has already seen major fish kills due to this type of pollution.
High levels of nitrates are also a concern in waste-contaminated water. Nitrate pollution has been linked to congenital disabilities, miscarriage, cancer, and more.
Through the new rules, factory farms will be limited in how much phosphorus and nitrates they can introduce into their crops via fertilizer. Farms will also follow strict daily monitoring and reporting requirements to detect pathogens and stricter waste storage guidelines.
One caveat of the ruling, however, is that the EGLE will still have to demonstrate the need for these permit conditions in any legally contested cases. But the state attorney general says officials plan to do just that.
"This decision is a critical step forward in protecting our state's invaluable water resources," Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a press release. "While this is a significant procedural victory for environmental protection, we will continue to vigorously defend EGLE's position and demonstrate the need for these permit conditions in contested cases."
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