Menu

Is manure on the farm considered toxic waste and covered under the federal Superfund law? If environmental activists get their way, this could be the case, creating havoc for large and small farm operations, said Adam Sharp, OFBF’s director of national affairs.

"The activists are arguing that animal manure is a hazardous substance and should be subject to the Superfund law," he said. "But natural animal waste is already heavily regulated under the Clean Water Act and state laws."

Congress never intended agriculture to be covered under the Superfund law, which is used to clean up the nation’s most toxic industrial waste sites such as Love Canal and Fernald near Cincinnati and often imposes multi-million dollar penalties. The problem is that Congress never spelled out that agriculture was not subject to the federal law, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has refused to take an official position, Sharp said.

"The U.S. EPA should clarify this but they’re not," he said. "The EPA is not willing to take a position on whether manure is considered a hazardous waste and covered under Superfund. Now there’s pressure on Congress to do something."

Farm Bureau has been fighting back against the environmental activists’ efforts to sway members of Congress to consider animal waste as a hazardous substance. A bipartisan bill was introduced in the House recently that would clarify that the Superfund law was never intended to apply to agriculture.

H.R. 4341, sponsored by Rep. Ralph Hall, R-Texas, has more than 161 co-sponsors, including Ohio Reps. Ralph Regula and Jean Schmidt. It specifies that "manure is not considered a hazardous substance or pollutant" under the Superfund law, also known as CERCLA.

"Any attempt to further regulate America’s farms and ranches under the Superfund law … is a mockery of congressional intent. Such an effort is not acceptable and can not be tolerated," said American Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman.

Some states have been citing the Superfund law as a means of filing lawsuits against farmers or agribusinesses. For example, the city of Waco, Texas, has sued a group of dairy producers after their cattle allegedly polluted the city’s drinking water. Sharp said that if a court rules that farmers are liable under the Superfund law, the economic impact would be devastating to the nation’s agriculture community.

"The domestic livestock industry would be driven from this country, the grain industry would be crippled and farm families and communities would be devastated," Oklahoma Farm Bureau head Steve Kouplen told Congress last year.