Debate at Poultry Pollution Summit regarding runoff
According to State Attorney General Doug Gansler, the US$350 fine for farmers who fail to file nutrient management plans is “woefully low”.
Gansler, who recently spoke at a summit in Salisbury where approx. 200 environmentalists and poultry industry members were present, believes that the Department of Agriculture’s six inspectors are inadequate to review the plans of more than 6,000 farms. He is aiming for tougher enforcement of laws intended to protect the Chesapeake Bay from harmful farm runoff.
Waterkeeper Alliance President Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was another speaker at the summit. He apparently condemned Perdue Farms and Tyson Foods for allowing chicken farms to pollute the bay. It was reported that several poultry supporters walked out, but environmentalists gave Kennedy a standing ovation.
According to the head of a poultry trade association, Delmarva Poultry Industry director Bill Satterfield, the industry has been doing its part to curb pollution and humans and animals also are responsible for bay watershed pollution.
