County targets CAFOs
US - The Lenawee County Commission voted Wednesday to ask the state to halt construction of any new large dairy operations until stricter new regulations are enacted and local government controls allowed.The Sierra Club Michigan chapter called Wednesday for the Vreba-Hoff dairies to be immediately shut down because land application of liquid manure was started Tuesday in violation of a lawsuit settlement with the Department of Environmental Quality. The agreement prohibits land applications after Dec. 15.
A Hudson-based environmental group also called Wednesday for “an immediate injunction to stop Vreba-Hoff Dairy’s knowing violations of a court judgment prohibiting any winter application of manure.”
Rachel Matthews of the DEQ district office in Jackson said Vreba-Hoff officials gave notice they would begin land applications this week to avoid exceeding manure storage capacity at the farms.Vreba-Hoff cited a clause in the agreement that allows winter applications to avoid “catastrophic events,” she said.
Source: The Daily Telegram