Food For Thought
 |
Feces runoff from factory farms often pollute local groundwater. |
Feces runoff from factory farms often pollute local groundwater.
Close
Move
Consider This
Amount of farmed animal manure produced in the United States:
five tons of waste
for every person
|
|
Factory farms produce run-off that pollutes our streams and rivers, endangering not only the water supply for humans but also harming delicate eco-systems.
A U.S. Senate Agricultural Committee report concluded, “The threat of pollution from intensive livestock and poultry farms is a national problem.” [1]
According to the EPA, over 200 manure discharges and spills from U.S. animal farms between 1990 and 1997 have killed more than a billion fish.[2] Animal feedlots can contaminate nearby well water with high levels of nitrates, which have been linked to miscarriages in humans as well as “blue baby” syndrome in infants.[3]
Manure lagoons and spray fields from animal agriculture also pollute the air by emitting ammonia, methane, and hydrogen sulfide.
According to a May 2003 article in the New York Times, “Around industrial hog farms across the country, people say their sickness rolls in with the wind. It brings headaches that do not go away and trips to the emergency room for children whose lungs suddenly close up. People young and old have become familiar with inhalers, nebulizers and oxygen tanks. They complain of diarrhea, nosebleeds, earaches and lung burns.”
The article goes on to describe how air pollution from hog farms appears to have caused permanent brain damage in nearby residents.[4]
|
