The comment period on the EPA’s new proposed regulations for CAFO’s expires today. If you want to go and read or leave comments, start here: Regulations.gov.

Last week, I talked about congressman John Dingle’s letter to the EPA questioning the new regulations. You can read this 14 page letter here.

Marcia, over at the Indiana Law Blog has today’s coverage of the Vreba-Hoff takeover of the troubled DeGroot Dairy in Huntington County:

The Environmental Protection Agency released a report in January 2007 that cited a former Vreba-Hoff-owned dairy near Fremont for violations of numerous environmental standards, including allowing illegal waste discharges. Vreba-Hoff sold the 39-acre, 900-cattle dairy farm to DeJong Dairy LLC, 5409 E. Ray Clark Road, in December 2004. And the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has been in a legal tug of war with Vreba-Hoff for several years, filing a lawsuit in 2003 that resulted in a 2004 consent decree in which the company agreed to build an on-site waste treatment facility. Last year, the department asked a judge to hold the company in contempt of court for violating the decree, asserting that Vreba-Hoff was still failing to correctly dispose of manure. But Barry Sneed, public information officer with IDEM, said Vreba-Hoff is in good standing in Indiana. It owns two facilities in the state and is associated with 24 others. “We haven’t had problems with the new owner, and the new owner will fix problems that are there,” Sneed said. “Any time we can bring a facility into compliance and have future compliance as well, that’s kind of a win-win for us.” IDEM is reviewing a new permit application for construction projects at the dairy as well as a request for expansion. The facility will operate under the new name Andrews Dairy LLC. Lindsey said as an adjoining landowner he already received information that Vreba-Hoff wants to expand the herd size from 1,400 to 2,500. * * *

(Quoting the story in today’s Fort Wayne Journal Gazette by Niki Kelley).

Also, be sure to check the comments to my post yesterday in which a commenter points to several very odd aspects of IDEM’s decision to go with Vreba-Hoff at this juncture. This includes the fact that there is a pending action in Fulton County Common Pleas Court in Ohio brought against the Dutch dairy by the Ohio Attorney general asserting violations at 20 Vreba-Hoff dairies in Ohio:

In a 40-page complaint filed yesterday in Fulton County Common Pleas Court, Attorney General Marc Dann cited violations pertaining to stormwater issues dating to 1999 at dairies in Fulton, Henry, Wood, Defiance, Paulding, Putnam, Van Wert, Williams, Hardin, Marion, and Madison counties. The complaint seeks up to $10,000 a day per violation. In some cases, dairies neglected to get state permits for discharging stormwater. In others, they got them after the fact, when construction was either under way or finished - or else they violated the conditions of them.

(Article in the Toledo Blade by Tom Henry on July 31, 2007).

The action in Ohio is still pending - set for its 3rd pre-trial on April 10th.

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland signed an emergency order in February requiring milk labeled with the phrase "hormone free" to include a statement to the effect that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has found no significant difference between milk produced with or without the hormone known as rbST (recombinant bovine somatotropin).

I have talked about this before when Indiana faced this issue (here). The AP is reporting that (see Pal Item coverage) retailers, like Kroger, are complaining about the requirement - Note that the retailers are responding to strong consumer demand for drug free milk while the Ag industry keeps pressuring lawmakers to keep hormone labeling off of milk. Ohio is backing off, but only permitting the disclaimer to be 1/2 the size of the hormone free claim.

Wal-Mart announced last Friday that its store label milk (Great Value) would be hormone free (Sam’s Club, too) (BusinessWeek), but the labels might be silent on this fact:

Wal-Mart is making the decision at the same time the states of Utah, Ohio and Missouri are considering outlawing labels that say dairy products are free of artificial growth hormones. (Pennsylvania enacted such a rule, only to recently have it overturned by the governor.) Wal-Mart spokeswoman Deisha Galberth would not discuss the labeling issue other than to say the chain is "considering our options on labels." For now, consumers will have to find out on their own that Wal-Mart suppliers will be using cows free of artificial hormones.

(Salt Lake Tribune)

Tom Murphy at the Indy Star checks in on the progress of Gov. Daniels’s vision for Renolds, Indiana in today’s Star:

From the outset, the vision for BioTown was ambitious. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and the state Department of Agriculture wanted to create a model for energy self-sufficiency. No other U.S. community produces all its own energy, and a German village that runs on renewable energy took eight years to develop. But project officials believed they could turn this community of about 550 people, surrounded by silos and stubbly corn fields, into something special. "We are taking challenges and turning them into opportunities by developing homegrown, local energy production to become independent from foreign sources," Daniels said in announcing the project.

Link.

Instead, what Mr. Murphy finds in 2008 is much less rosy: Rose Energy Discovery, Inc. dropped plans to build the digester to turn manure into electricity, VeraSun has stopped plans to build it ethanol plant due to the price recent drops in ethanol and high corn prices. Vectren’s Energy Systems Group is still trying to line up financing for the corn-to-energy digester.

Finally, the town leaders have been told that it will not be financially feasible to take the town of the grid. . . But officials remain optimistic: "BioTown Development Authority President John Heimlich preaches patience as the project sputters on. Last year, he and other BioTown leaders visited the German village of Juehnde, which runs on renewable energy. Check out the official version at BioTown, USA

The Pal-Item is reporting that the Union County area plan commission will meet on APril 14th to discuss CAFO zoning regulations. The Farm Bureau told the county that they needed to get something in place before "controversy erupts," and the county is shopping around for a template. Some folks are concerned:

The Union County commissioners received a letter Monday from a Union Township resident concerned about the impact of two CAFOs located on either side of her family farm. "Unknown factors such as air quality, water quality and visual environment affect our way of life," resident Juaneta Stout wrote. "Perhaps we should check and see why the hog set-ups moved from North Carolina to Indiana."

link.

Fort Wayne’s Wane TV is reporting that Dutch Dairyman Johannes DeGroot has resolved his longstanding difficulties with IDEM by entering a consent decree:

Under an agreement reached with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), Huntington County dairy owner Johannes DeGroot and DeGroot Dairy, LLC, operating in Indiana since 2001, is barred from operating livestock facilities in the State of Indiana. The Agreed Order, signed by DeGroot Dairy, LLC, and IDEM, resolves all compliance issues currently in litigation and allows for the dairy’s sale and operation in compliance with strict environmental regulations.

Link. The agreement has DeGroot selling off his Huntington County CAFO dairy to Vreba-Hoff - who has committed to IDEM that it will alter the dairy to bring it into compliance. It will be called Andrews Dairy, LLC.

MORE: The agreement should end up here - check this link for the full history . . . .

Marcia Oddi over at the The Indiana Law Blog has a couple of interesting post up now which raise the issue of the power of courts:

First off, a Columbus, Ohio attorney is challenging the Ohio Supreme Court’s move to determine what court records the public should access online:

Cleveland lawyer David Marburger, of the Ohio Coalition for Open Government, said a court- appointed commission drawing up rules on what court records the public should have access to does not have the constitutional authority to do so.

“When you give a small group of people, seven people, the power to decide what everyone should have access to, you have automatic mischief, maybe not intended mischief,” said Marburger, an open-records attorney who represents The Plain Dealer and other Ohio newspapers.

“The court doesn’t have this kind of power,” he said. “The court is not a little legislature.”

Indiana Law Blog quoting the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Marcia had an earlier piece up this month about the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s cutting off online access to court records.

All of this mirrors the situation in Indiana where the Indiana Supreme Court is enabling its own online access to local court records called Odyssey which has displaced the systems put in place by local county courts to make records available online. In effect, the local courts - who used to exercise broad control over their own records - have seen these powers forfeited to the central court administration.

The second issue is one on the powers of a trial judge to issue a gag order on a litigant:

Mark McGaha wanted to share his frustrations about the Department of Child Services with the public, but he never got the chance.

McGaha did an interview with an Indianapolis TV station, but a Fountain County judge issued a restraining order barring the station from airing his complaints or even showing his face — apparently without even having seen the footage.

The segment about family advocacy group Honk For Kids was broadcast March 13, without McGaha’s comments and with his face blocked out in a group shot of parents.

The Indiana Law Blog quoting a Tim Evans story in the Indianapolis Star.

The article quotes Indiana Law School Professor (Indianapolis) Henry Karlson calling the order a “prior restraint” under the US First Amendment. I’ve talked about Honk for Kids before, here and here. It is an advocacy group aimed at highlighting issues in Indiana’s child protective services system.

Seth Slabaugh, over at the Star Press says the Randolph County plan Commission’s December 27, 2007 meeting, at which it approved a CAFO regulation that permitted CAFO’s on the vast majority of county property pushed the limits on Indiana’s open door law:

Allen Hutchison and nine other citizens filed complaints with Indiana Public Access Counselor Heather Willis Neal stating that the meeting room was packed to its capacity of 60 and that another 70 people had to wait in the hallway. They alleged violation of the Open Door Law.
Commission attorney Robert Oliver Jr. told Neal the commission had no knowledge or expectation that a large crowd would appear.

According to Neal, a public meeting location does not have to accommodate every member of the public who wishes to attend.

“While I cannot find the commission violated the letter of the law, it certainly came close to violating the spirit of the law,” Neal wrote in an advisory opinion. “When more people are excluded from a meeting than are admitted, the purpose of the Open Door Law is frustrated.”

She urged the commission to be mindful of the spirit of the law in the future.

link.

Dave Russell of Brownfields Ag News breaks the big story:

Heavy rain in parts of Indiana is causing some concerns for livestock producers with manure storage lagoons. Ryan Westerfeld, Agricultural Liaison for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) tells Brownfield producers with a potential problem should contact IDEM immediately.

“They can call the spill line at 1-888-233-7745,” said Westerfeld. “They can provide technical assistance to the producer and explain some emergency actions that can take place.”

Westerfeld says options available to producers with potential problems include building a dike around the existing lagoon to control any overflow, or they could construct emergency storage, but before doing that the producer must contact IDEM. The emergency spill number again is 888-233-7745.

Link.

Now, some more cynical folks might ask, didn’t IDEM know about rain when it approved these CAFO’s?

According to Andrew Schneider, correspondent for the the Seattle PI, Michigan’s Rep. John D. Dingell, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee is wondering how the EPA decided it should take a pass on regulating air emissions from CAFO’s in light of findings by the EPA’s own scientists indicating that “hydrogen sulfide and ammonia from animal waste from huge factory livestock operations can be powerful pollutants with potentially serious health effects, such as acute respiratory irritation and damage to central nervous system.” More:

Rep. John Dingell’s Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the heads of two of the subcommittees - Reps. Al Wynn and Hilda Solis - have written EPA Administrator Steve Johnson to explain what is behind what the members call “this questionable exemption” to the toxic emissions reporting law.Dingell said: “It’s nothing more than a favor to big agribusiness at the expense of the public health and communities living near these facilities.” Wynn said: “It defies logic to exempt animal feeding operations from the Superfund and Emergency Planning Community Right to Know Act reporting requirements when the toxic air emissions from these operations can cause severe health effects in people, even death.”

Solis cautioned that without reporting requirements, local governments risk being unable to protect the health and environment of their communities.

Link.

Well, all those funny helicopters flying around this morning are now explained: Bill Clinton is coming to Richmond tomorrow:

Former President Bill Clinton will make a stop at Richmond Fire Station No. 1 at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday as part of a visit to Indiana for the presidential campaign of his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Democratic Party officials announced today.

Bill Clinton will be in Richmond, Lawrenceberg and Fort Wayne on Tuesday, accompanied by former Indiana Gov. Joe Kernan and former Indiana first lady Judy O’Bannon.

Richmond Mayor Sally Hutton, who is also the Wayne County Democratic Party chairwoman, said this morning she first learned Sunday night of the former president’s plan to visit the city.

Link (Pal-Item).

Fire Station #1 is about a block from my office. My first thought was not “Oh, what a wonderful opportunity to see an ex-prez,” I am more concerned with being able to get to the courthouse and back in the afternoon. Presidential visits (even quasi) tend to shut things down.

So Indiana’s sit-back-and-wait-until-May primary plan is finally coming to fruition. The Dem’s even have a choice between 2 candidates - can Hoosier’s handle all this excitement? Actually, I’ve only had one conversation today about Bill’s big visit - compared to dozens of conversations about the NCAA tournament seeding (general consensus, IU & Purdue are over rated and misranked).  Priorities.

The Indiana Gov. just signed House Bill 1271 (PDF). For those of you (most, I assume) not following that particular measure, it takes criminal offenders in a certain category and effectively raises their sentences.

How? Currently, in Indiana, a prisoner gets “2 for 1″ credit time, meaning - if they mind their manners, they will only serve 1/2 their stated sentence: Two days credit for 1 day served. This upsets people all the time, but in the system, we have already adjusted our heads to it, so we know going into a case how much time is actually at stake. What the 2 for 1 gives us is great incentive to get prisoners to stay out of trouble in the joint - if they get in trouble, they can loose their credit time.

The Department of Correction keeps track of where people are on their credit status by assigning them classes: Credit class I is 2 for 1, credit class II gets 1 day credit for 2 days served, etc, all the way up to class IV, in which you have to serve 6 days to get 1 day credit.

What the new law does is say that certain child molesters (kids under 12 or injury/death results) and certain murderers (again, victim of sex crimes or witnesses to sex crimes) can only get credit class IV. If you or someone you care about is facing one of these cases, they might want to hurry up: the new law goes into effect for convictions after June 30, 2008.

Progressive journalists Steven Higgs and AMber Kerezman over at The Bloomington Alternative have been traveling around CAFO land of late, and are sending back dispatches. First stop is local CAFO central, Randolph County:

Kathryn Petry and Loretta Miller are Randolph County farm citizens who, like Allen and Judy Hutchison, live daily with the byproducts of CAFOs, most significantly but not exclusively, the vast quantities of manure that these “factory farms” produce. Seated on her plush sofa next to Miller, a CAFO visible just outside the window, Petry explained the factory farm system.

Surrounded by factory farms

Amber is blogging her experiences:

There is a lot I’ve yet to learn about Indiana’s environment and the government’s role in it all. But my naivete doesn’t frighten me. Hopefully, it affords me a clear perspective. I hope environmental veterans and newcomers alike will join the “Indiana Environment Revisited” journey with Steve and me as I become disheartened, angry, numb or whatever my reaction is ultimately.

I can say I’ve already begun to size up the farms I pass on State Road 37, though there is only one CAFO in Morgan County and none in Monroe. I’m also working toward keeping my pork consumption to an all-time low, though it rarely graces my plate as it is. Without having a knee-jerk reaction, I want to be more aware of the products I consume and where they come from. It’s a good exercise for me. But I can’t help thinking about the permanent infringement CAFOs represent for the Rex and Brenda Jones’s of rural Indiana. Talk about an invasion.

CAFOs in the morning, CAFOs at night

Amber talked about meeting local water advocate Barbara Sha Cox, among many other local folks. Be sure to stay tuned.

The EPA is seeking comment on additional options for inclusion in the rulemaking to respond to the changes required by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Waterkeeper Alliance et al. v. EPA. This action supplements the June 2006 proposal to revise the NPDES permitting requirements and Effluent Limitations Guidelines (ELGs) for CAFOs. The 2008 supplemental proposal will be open for public comment for 30 days. For more information on this supplemental proposal, including how to submit comments: EPA CAFO Rules

The Pal-Item reports that the Gov. signed the bill into law yesterday:

The objective of HEA 1276, which was authored by State Rep. Phil Pflum, D-Milton, is to give the judicial system time to cool off or take time to review a sexual predator’s past offenses and set bail at a level that is in the community’s best interest.

The need for this law came after a teenage girl, Tarra Pickett, was murdered near Cambridge City in May 2007, Pflum said.

“The individual accused of Tarra’s death was found to have been previously convicted of rape in 1982. Additionally, the person accused of her murder was out on a $5,000 for an unrelated case that involved three counts of molestation. The accused paid the $5,000 bail bond and had been released from jail when he murdered Pickett.”

This statute applies specifically to those arrested for a sexually violent offense, which includes rape, sexual misconduct, sex or human trafficking and sexually deviant behavior. They will then be subject to a background check to determine the likelihood of repeat offenses.

Link

My father was a state rep in Texas, and has been involved in politics for many years. Growing up in the house of a politician exposed me to the rough and tumble of “retail politics,” but I have stayed so far away from that type of thing for so long, I often forget what a blood sport politics actually is.

My dad “retired” (i.e. stopped doing some things to do start doing others), across the Texas border in Louisiana. This year he is working Barack Obama campaign, and his new state of residence, plus his old Texas ties, permitted him to campaign for Obama in both democratic primaries. He was working the Texas polls all Tuesday and he just got me a “field report” on his day.

Now a old white guy going out to campaign for a black man in rural Texas might seem like pretty a dangerous endeavor, and from his report, it got a little ugly. Retail politics, Texas style:

The Texas result was swayed by Limbaugh getting his listeners to vote for Clinton and go to the caucuses. Those “Limbaugh Lemmings” would never admit to supporting Clinton in any other forum, including November. At the precinct I worked the election judge delayed the start of the caucus for over an hour. Five carloads of “Clinton supporters” arrived just before 8:pm, they then opened the doors and Clinton had 21 out of 37 of the total sign-ins. In the precinct your mom worked they held the caucus sign-in open an hour late (illegally) until the REPUBLICAN PRECINCT JUDGE arrived and signed in as a Clinton delegate. Ugly, ugly stuff. It was my request that they double check the distance markers that got me my threat to get arrested. The original marks forced me across the highway from the voters going in to the fire station polling place. I knew it was wrong and there was a good space on the other side for me to work. When the city employees finally came out to re-measure and correct the markers, the local JP stood there and told the Republican Election Judge that if I gave her any more trouble, he’d come over and put me in jail. He said it walking away so I didn’t take it seriously. I thought they’d at least appreciate the knowledge that their city maintenance folks didn’t know the difference between 100 feet and 115 feet! That could be trouble on some road or sewer projects : )

We’re OK. And as Mom said, Democrats have jumped in the open primary to screw the Repubs in the past, so we can’t cry too loudly.

Randolph commissioners lift CAFO moratorium is the title of the Star Press update this morning. Apparently the commissioners met this morning and, after hearing from Jo0hn Tanner that Maxwell was right and the moratorium should have come through the plan commission before being passed by the commissioners, voted unanimously to repeal the moratorium. The ban only lasted from January 7, 2008, through today.