The bill, crossfiled in the House of Delegates as House Bill 26, would require Maryland taxpayers to finance a study determining how to monitor air emissions from 245 family farms raising animals. The bill as it is written would not actually improve public health, and it ignores all the evidence showing Eastern Shore air is clean and healthy.
DPI is also sharing with its members, with legislators, and with the public a clearinghouse of information about air quality on Maryland's Eastern Shore so Marylanders can rest assured chicken farms are completely compatible with clean, healthy air quality.
“I’ve spent almost every day of the past 43 years in chicken houses,” said Bobbie Reed, a Caroline County family farmer. “I do appreciate the concerns that people have about health issues for them and their children, but I have yet to see any scientific evidence that chicken houses are the cause of that. As we retire, our grandson is taking over our poultry operation. I’m completely confident that we are not putting him in any danger.”
“When I walk into the chicken house, if I’m not comfortable, my chickens are not comfortable,” said Mary Lou Brown, who with her family owns and operates a chicken farm in Hurlock, Maryland. “I ventilate my houses very carefully and have vegetative buffers completely surrounding my chicken houses. I want to ensure the quality of life for my family and my neighbors while providing food.”
"Long-running air quality monitoring in the heart of Delmarva’s chicken-producing region shows air here is cleaner, with lower particulate levels, than the EPA’s standard for particulate matter, and cleaner than air in our region’s urban areas," said Holly Porter, DPI's assistant executive director. "In Wicomico County, where there are hundreds of family-owned chicken houses, the adult asthma rate is lower than the Maryland average."
"It makes no sense to have a Maryland-only system of measuring air emissions from family-owned farms because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is in the process of developing a detailed national protocol," said Bill Satterfield, DPI's executive director. "There is a huge cost associated with developing the protocol and using it on all large animal-feeding operations."
For more information and data about air quality on the Eastern Shore, visit www.dpichicken.org/bofa/.
8 comments:
Maryland is well known for reinventing the wheel.
While were at it let's check into the effects and case studies that say its safe to spray all this human waste on the fields in wicomico county. If its been treated like the waste at Salisbury's wastewater plant we have a problem. And I'm sure the city of Philadelphia (,it's origin) I'm sure there's some sort of problem. Why else would they have a farmer from Hebron bringing down here disposing of it?
I knew many a farmer that said the same thing about roundup and other chemicals. Sadly, they are all dead way before their time.
Yeah but try building a house you need a miniature waste water plant on site at your expense. Farmers and municipalities spray nitrogen and manure but they make the homeowner treat their water run off due to the effects or nitrogen they produce.
8:39
what does roundup have to do with anything? Adults are talking here, please don't let the door hit ya.
12:43 If you can't figure that out, you must done graduated the 7th grade and none more.
This a great idea
It may lead to the reason the cancer rate is so high on the shore.
Private builds have to go through EPA studies.
If they are so innocent why worry about the study?
Where are those anti-CAFO douche bags? I'm sure they missed this article or they would have been all over it. Those Douche Bags include Maria Payan, Lisa Inzerillo, Kathy Phillips, JC Watts, Marghi Barnes Gabby Cammarata, Jim Rapp, etc. If I left out anyone feel free to fill in the blanks.
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