Adrian - Oil and Gas

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Water Pollution Caused by Industrial Cattle Farms - Open Letter by John Klein, Lime Lake resident

Bruce Washburn - CAFO Staff

Michigan Department of Environmental Quality

The spring of 2016 is now upon us. Spreading of CAFO waste will soon begin and our waters, both above and below ground, are once again being attacked.

I sent a report to you and the MDEQ late last summer that reported the finding of cyanobacteria and microcystin in the waters of Lime Lake in Wright Township of Hillsdale County. DNA tracking for Bovine resulted positive in the DNA sampling. (Which by the way Bruce, deer are not part of the Bovine family as you stated last November in our meeting. Whitetail deer are a member of the Cervidae family.)

As you well know as stated in the report I sent, there is only one real source of the Bovine DNA in the Lime Lake watershed. There is the CAFO located about ½ mile uphill from Lime Lake. I believe this problem needs to be addressed before Lime Lake becomes the Lake Erie or Grand Lake St. Mary's in Ohio. And that is not to overlook the possibility of swine waste also entering the watershed as there is a swine CAFO also in the watershed.

I stated at our meeting that there is an opportunity here to eliminate the CAFO waste entering Lime Lake, both from field applications of CAFO waste, spray irrigation of CAFO waste and release of the stormwater pond which may contain high levels of phosphorous. I even offered to partner with the MDEQ to solve this issue through testing and possibly some financial help.

I have not heard from you and therefore feel that this problem has followed the same protocol that MDEQ has been using since 2011. And that is to deny that there is a problem and hope it will go away. In this case, I assure you it will not go away.

MDEQ ignored obvious warnings in Flint and the problem only escalated. I strongly feel that this is the case here in our rural area. We know surface and groundwater have been contaminated all over the country from CAFO waste disposal practices, even from those practices that are not violating any law. We can no longer ignore the obvious warnings that current practices will provide very bad results. Our health and health of future generations is at stake.

Everyone leaves a legacy. The current MDEQ Drinking Water Division has already embedded its legacy in the Flint tragedy under the abysmal guidance of Governor Snyder and former MDEQ head Dan Wyant. I hope that you and those MDEQ staff that monitor CAFOs would like to leave a better legacy.

I believe it's time for MDEQ to step up to the plate and acknowledge that CAFO waste is a danger to both surface and groundwater. It's time that the safety and health of real people wins over economic development. It's time to begin aggressive stream testing for e.coli and dissolved reactive phosphorous. It's time to require groundwater monitoring. It's time.

I would like to know if you or any members of the MDEQ have any plans to address this Lime Lake problem and the problem as a whole.

John Klein

Lime Lake resident