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sticks n stones deaddrift report, verdigre update, part five |
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Help support the fight to preserve the
waters of the Verdigre Creek. Buy an hour of legal time and receive a hand
made beautifully crafted wooden fly box. The middle of nowhere is not a place; it is a way of looking at the world, a way that reflects impoverishment. In my opinion, putting Verdigris Creek at risk is to adopt that view. It is to adopt that view about our land and about ourselves. That brief spring creek partakes of a beauty that teaches us, if we will listen, to make everywhere the center of the world. The Middle of Nowhere© Joe Hawbaker March 17, 2000 What is deaddrift.com all about? Kenneth D. Bay Steve Westphal "...think of me when in the
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or “not based on good science, but that
based on politics” jan. 9, 2005
soon to be former governor of Nebraska, mike johanns, is soon to be secretary of agriculture. he is walking into a job that must protect our beef industry from the threat of “mad cow disease”. i pray he does a better job than he did protecting the water quality of Nebraska. “Committee members spent little time discussing johanns' qualifications for the job and instead spent the majority of the hearing airing renewed concerns about the impact of mad cow disease on the U.S. beef industry.” the beef industry better get down on their knees and pray daily. “Nothing more frustrating than working through a process that is not based on good science, but that is based on politics."
well, those working to protect the east verdigre creek headwater springs from pollution from a dairy expansion understand all too well facts and arguments of the proponents of the lagoon site for the dairy “not based on good science, but that based on politics”. and yes mike, “nothing is more frustrating” than witnessing for the second time the permitting process of a leaking lagoon and expansion plans that will increase the plume of pollutants under the poorly conceived location. apologists for the dairy have testified in numerous forums that this lagoon will not leak and damage forever a beautiful and irreplaceable natural resource in our fine state. they testify of clay sealed with manure as impermeable and permanent and just the ticket to hold 1.3 million gallons of chemical and biological terror to those who realize that this will impact the groundwater, follow the flow underground, and pollute the surface water as it emerges from the bountiful springs that form a class “A” trout stream and recreation area enjoyed by thousands of Nebraskans. and that is going to happen. yup, the antelope zoning commission voted unanimously to approve and pass on to the county commissioners. they will probably unanimously approve passing this on to the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality for immediate permitting. unless a few of the commissioners ask some intelligent questions and understand the answers. yup, gonna happen unless those who oversee this process take responsibility and act on sound science and not political exigencies. like the ndeq. like the natural resources committee. and here in lies the rub. the ndeq is currently at odds with the cattlemen of the state who operate lagoons. usually a rubber stamp for industrial agriculture the ndeq is in a very unusual position of opposition to the wishes of the cattleman’s association. they are not used to opposition. as mike fitzgerald, spokesman for the cattlemen said, “"The pendulum for years was cooperative in nature.” cooperative to put it mildly. but then half of the 60 operations with monitoring wells have been tested by the ndeq and found indications that the lagoons are leaking. “…sampling results from nearby groundwater monitoring wells that contained signs of nitrates, ammonia and other contaminants. The number of letters suggests almost half of all operations being monitored at that point in time might have leaking lagoons and other expensive problems.” lincoln journal star, dec. 24, 2004 in that same article Marty Link of the ndeq said, “"They have to be environmentally responsible, just like every other industry in the state." well, the “they” in marty link’s statement do not agree with that statement. they want to stop all sampling of monitoring wells. “…the livestock group went too far when it called for the state to stop taking groundwater samples from monitoring wells after nitrates, ammonia and other contaminants were found.” Don't like the regulations? Blame them on unsound science …
in other words, kill the messenger, deny the message, cover up the results, change the regulations, and the devil take the hindmost…. so much for science huh? so much for responsible stewardship huh? “Chapter 13 of Title 130 requires that depth to water be measured in these monitoring wells and that they be sampled for nitrate, chloride and ammonia. These chemical tests were chosen because they can be indicators of a leaking storage facility and they are relatively easy to sample for and to analyze.” and “…ammonia is generally non-detectable in ground water tests. If it is detected, it indicates a point source contamination such as a spill or leak from fertilizer or manure storage.” “Over time the negative charges in the clay liner will eventually become saturated with ammonia such that ammonia will be found below the waste facility or in shallow ground water. The duration however is dependent on loading, clay type, and thickness. At this time the facility might be taken out of service.” interpreting test reports of ground water monitoring wells at livestock waste facilities by the ndeq http://manure.unl.edu/adobe/v8n9_02.pdf for more info check out: A recent report of results from ground water monitoring at livestock facilities “Ground Water Monitoring at Selected Livestock Waste Control Facilities in Nebraska”, May 2002, NDEQ, is available at: http://www.deq.state.ne.us/ , currently listed on the home page. “Studies have generally found that the contaminants in leakage from earthen manure basins contains chlorides, potassium, ammonium and soluble organic compounds.” Vo. 4, No.1, “Do Earthen Structures Leak?” by Dennis Schulte. http://manure.unl.edu/v4n1_98.html now the national cattlemen’s own information guide states, “ The key to monitoring success is consistency of measurements and a commitment to long-term monitoring.” http://www.imok.ufl.edu/animal_sci/beefcattle/ncbawaterqualitypubpdf.pdf now that is the national cattlemen’s own words in their mouth, i didn’t put them there. of course the Nebraska cattlemen are at odds with the quote above. a commitment to long-term monitoring is not what they are demanding, but they are asking for consistency of measurements. i don’t blame them for that. if what the monitoring wells information is telling us is that lagoons leak, yes dear god they leak. if they do, then honest unbiased science is what is needed to seek a solution. “…each site should be evaluated on it's own merits and that on-site monitoring during construction is advisable.” Vo. 4, No.1, “Do Earthen Structures Leak?” by Dennis Schulte. http://manure.unl.edu/v4n1_98.html For more information about earthen manure storage and clay liners, see the “Manure Matters” well folks, no such evaluation of the site was done on the old tevelde lagoon, no fancy on-site monitoring was done when the old tevelde lagoon was under construction. only hearsay now, from fellas who say they had clay on their boots when they dug it (that is the testimony accepted as “science” by the county zoning decision unanimously) and no “engineer” was involved in this hole dig. “Because of the complexity of ensuring adequate sealing of earthen manure basins it is highly advisable to have a qualified engineer certify that the design and construction methods were adequate to meet state standards “Do Earthen Structures Leak?” by Dennis Schulte i know, i know i am overusing dennis’s work here. but hey i wish dennis could meet ole sukovady who supposedly supervised the digging of this hole in the ground, soon to be a leaking lagoon, and ask ole sukovady to see his engineering degree or any credentials at all for being responsible for the digging of this chemical time bomb. i can hear ole sukavody now, talking about saturated hydraulic conductivity this and infiltration rate that, and going on about percolation in a most amusing way. but i digress, my point is those opposing permitting a new dairy on this location don’t buy the science put forth by the politically motivated and big ag-industry driven proponents. when confronted with the system (laws and the ndeq) created to deal with potential pollution from their industrial by-products, they immediately cry foul, and freak about who is gonna pay the costs of cleanup and remedy to the pollutants they created. the same ag-industry driven mania against regulation and sound science has found a new member of the natural resource committee in the legislature to introduce a modification to LB 916 (contains language protecting class “A” cold water streams) that would as they say “gut” the bills intent and make a work around solution and site operations inside the protected 2 mile setback. rust never sleeps and cattlemen’s association is key in this lil drama also… as well as the farm bureau and more will come out of the woodwork to support this effort. below is a working draft of the newly minted language developed by the ag-industrial complex or as i refer to them as the “rust that never sleeps” humbly submitted by sen. louden. 54-2419 Permit; conditions; restrictions.
now folks this is downright amazing that again the word “scientific information” rears it’s ugly head. and the rubber stamp ole ndeq is supposed to determine that the operation is harmless based on the “science” provided by the applicant. wow. what they won’t think of next. all this to protect and provide expansion of a university of Nebraska operation already on one of our class “A” streams. and to allow discretionary control by the cattlemen, of what the cattlemen want, when they want it, how they want, and where they want it to be. and they want no monitoring, no regulations, and no responsibility. not all producers feel this way… "Bottom line, we are in an industry with the potential to impact our environment. There are a lot of common sense things that come into play, regardless of regulations," says Haren. "I think our industry needs to be aware we are responsible for fixing these things." tom haren, vice president of Envirostock, a subsidiary of the Colorado Livestock Ass. http://beef-mag.com/mag/beef_coming_down_track/ but it seems that common sense doesn’t exist in Nebraska’s cattlemen’s associations. only politics and power. that is the bottom line. if you oppose the changes in LB 916 concerning class “A” streams contact: Senator LeRoy J. Louden District 49, Nebraska Unicameral Legislature State Capitol, Lincoln, Nebraska 402-471-2725 Adrian Smith 401-471-2802 [email protected] Gail Kopplin 410-471-2627 [email protected] Vicki McDonald 410-471-2631 [email protected] Ed Schrock [email protected] Elaine Stuhr [email protected] Robert Kremer [email protected] while you have their attention, let em know your opinion on the permitting process of the proposed dairy in the east verdigre creek watershed. kenneth d. bay, managing editor deaddrift.com |
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