To: Lisa Jackson, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency
EPA: crack down on factory farms and save our waters
Environment Maryland
Dear Administrator Jackson,
Please rid our waters of chicken poop and other foul contaminants by standing up to the largest polluters of the Chesapeake Bay: big agribusinesses. It's time to set tough pollution limits on industrial-scale farms and finalize your guidelines that will restore Clean Water Act protections to the tributaries and wetlands that feed and preserve our Bay.
Thank you.
Please rid our waters of chicken poop and other foul contaminants by standing up to the largest polluters of the Chesapeake Bay: big agribusinesses. It's time to set tough pollution limits on industrial-scale farms and finalize your guidelines that will restore Clean Water Act protections to the tributaries and wetlands that feed and preserve our Bay.
Thank you.
Why is this important?
There is no polite way to avoid it. Our waters are in need of some straight talk about an unsavory subject: Chicken poop.
And lots of it. Polluting the Chesapeake Bay. Every single year.
We can't avoid it because every year, factory farms raise hundreds of millions of chickens in Maryland. The millions of pounds of manure from those birds continue to be one of the biggest sources of pollution into the Chesapeake Bay. Pollution from all those chickens and other sources creates a vast dead zone in the Bay each year where fish and wildlife perish.
Use this petition to send a message to the EPA telling them to keep factory farm manure from polluting Maryland's waters and the Chesapeake Bay.
Right now, agricultural runoff containing nitrogen, phosphorous, pathogens and hormones is contaminating the Bay's tributaries like the Choptank River and threatening Marylanders' health.
That's why we're calling on the EPA to require that all giant factory farms (or concentrated animal feeding operations, aka "CAFOs") be held accountable for their runoff and obtain a permit to pollute.
Sign our petition now and keep Big Ag's waste out of our waters.
You'd think giant agribusiness polluters like Perdue wouldn't be chicken about taking responsibility for their waste. But Big Ag and mega-chicken and hog operations across the Bay’s watershed are fighting tooth and nail to use our waterways as their personal sewer system. Thanks to the polluters' squawking, the EPA halted a measure earlier this year to better identify and monitor giant factory farms. This was a big set back for the recovery of the Chesapeake Bay.
We can't let that happen again.
If enough people send the EPA the message to limit pollution from factory farms, we can take a huge step forward towards protecting the health of our waters. It's going to take your help, but I'm confident we can cut the chicken crud and keep the Chesapeake Bay on a path to restoration.
And lots of it. Polluting the Chesapeake Bay. Every single year.
We can't avoid it because every year, factory farms raise hundreds of millions of chickens in Maryland. The millions of pounds of manure from those birds continue to be one of the biggest sources of pollution into the Chesapeake Bay. Pollution from all those chickens and other sources creates a vast dead zone in the Bay each year where fish and wildlife perish.
Use this petition to send a message to the EPA telling them to keep factory farm manure from polluting Maryland's waters and the Chesapeake Bay.
Right now, agricultural runoff containing nitrogen, phosphorous, pathogens and hormones is contaminating the Bay's tributaries like the Choptank River and threatening Marylanders' health.
That's why we're calling on the EPA to require that all giant factory farms (or concentrated animal feeding operations, aka "CAFOs") be held accountable for their runoff and obtain a permit to pollute.
Sign our petition now and keep Big Ag's waste out of our waters.
You'd think giant agribusiness polluters like Perdue wouldn't be chicken about taking responsibility for their waste. But Big Ag and mega-chicken and hog operations across the Bay’s watershed are fighting tooth and nail to use our waterways as their personal sewer system. Thanks to the polluters' squawking, the EPA halted a measure earlier this year to better identify and monitor giant factory farms. This was a big set back for the recovery of the Chesapeake Bay.
We can't let that happen again.
If enough people send the EPA the message to limit pollution from factory farms, we can take a huge step forward towards protecting the health of our waters. It's going to take your help, but I'm confident we can cut the chicken crud and keep the Chesapeake Bay on a path to restoration.