CAFO Contamination Case Study

1. What is a CAFO and how is it different from traditional farming? A CAFO is a commercial, concentrated animal feeding operation. It is different from traditional farming methods because they raise large amounts of farm animals in confined areas, while traditional farming gives the animals plenty of land, has a large variety of animals and grows a variety of crops rather than a monoculture. 2. What types of CAFOs are in Farmville? How many animals are housed in each CAFO? There are four different types of CAFO's in Farmville. McGrill poultry houses 80,000 laying hens. Honeyhill farms and Eastville Swinery are two medium sized CAFO's with between 5,000-8,500 pigs. The third swine facility, Pattengrill Enterprises is the largest CAFO with over 75,000 swine under 55 pounds. 3. Based upon what you currently know about CAFOs, what can you infer are some of the issues for each side of the CAFOcontroversy? What are some of the viewpoints that proponents and opponents may state for and against CAFOs? Some of the controversies associated with CAFO's are the risk of disease. With so many animals in such an inclosed space, there is a high risk of contamination of disease. Some people would support CAFO's because it is a cheaper, faster, easier way to produce large quantities of crops. 1. What did you learn about CAFOs? I learned that the majority of the farms in america are being sold to CFC's. It is very easy for farmers to sell their farms to CAFO's who will offer them a large amount of money. 2. What are or might be some of the negative concerns with CAFOs? They farm many animals in a small enclosed space. This makes it easier for disease to spread. 3. During your review of the reference material, which references are biased and which are unbiased? How can you tell? Some ideas that are biased in this article are when they were talking about how CAFO's would bring in more revenue for the country through taxes. They argue that a large swine facility would provide more jobs for the community. The unbiased arguments say potential economic gains come at too great a cost when measured against the likely increase in environmental contamination. 1. What concerns and medical conditions have you heard the residents express? Some of the medical conditions that the residents express include asthma. Some residents argue that their sons asthma is triggered just 15 minutes after playing outside. Stomach issues and headaches are also some medical conditions residents express. 2. What do they believe is the source of their illnesses? They believe that the manure odor is the source of their illness. The harsh smell makes it difficult for them to breathe. Contamination of their water has also been a source of their illness. 3. Should you consider their experiences with the CAFO for your vote? Yes you should definitely consider their experiences with the CAFO for your vote because the CAFO has caused problems for many of these families and you would want to make sure that they would not cause harm towards your own. 4. Using the facts you have learned from your independent research and the concerns you have heard from the residents, what is your current position concerning the proposed CAFO expansion? I would not agree with the proposed CAFO expansion because it has posed many health risks for people and it has lowered the value of life for people who were living in this area. Unless we can find an area where people are unaffected by the CAFO, I would say we should not continue with this. CAFO's are also not animal friendly, so that is another thing that I do not support about CAFO's. 1. What are some of the types of microorganisms identified in Hatties water samples? Some of the microorganisms identified in Hattie's water samples were E coli, Bacteria,

cytoptosporidium and Giardia. 2. What are the levels of E. coli in water that the EPA consider safe for recreational use? What are the levels for drinking water? The level of E coli in water that the EPA considered safe for recreational use was 133 E coli colonies/100ml. For drinking water, there is no amount of E coli that is considered safe. 3. What are some of the bacteria levels detected in Hatties samples? One of Hattie's samples had 1,000,000 E coli colonies in as little as 1/2 cup of water. 4. What is the proposed plan the farmers are considering to help their cause against the CAFO expansion? The proposed plan the farmers are considering to help their cause against the CAFO expansion was to attend board meetings and express how they feel about the CAFO expansion. 5. If you were one of the farmers, would you participate in the board meeting and/or help collect samples? If I was one of the farmers, I would participate in the board meeting and help collect samples because I would never want anyone to get hurt and have to go through pain that I could potentially help stop.