Dear Friends and Neighbors,
This past week I joined with State Representatives Pam Altendorf and Steve Jacob to issue a statement condemning the surprise inspections on 2 dairy farms in Southeastern Minnesota by the EPA. The EPA was acting on a petition by 11 environmental groups who claimed that there were high levels of nitrates in drinking water in Southeastern Minnesota.The EPA has since said that they will force the state to take action or they will.
All but 3 of these groups are based in the Twin Cities or Washington DC, with funding from some of the biggest liberal private foundations in the country. Many of them are very involved in progressive, democrat politics in Minnesota and beyond, through their board members and associated Political Action Funds.
This approach is disturbing for several reasons. First, that outside groups can provoke the Federal EPA to demand access to private property, unannounced. It’s important to note that these were small farms, who do not require federal licensure and inspection but are under the purview of the State and/or county. Second, doing such raids is unnecessarily provocative and not conducive to an investigation unless you’ve already decided someone is guilty. Third, unless you are talking about a sudden discharge which is not the case here, nitrate levels don’t change overnight. Finally, increased nitrate levels could have many different causes depending on the area. Targeting a single type of activity (Dairy Farming) seems premature, before we have the data to back it up.
Environmentalists are always telling us to “follow the science.” This time, they want to take action before they have any data to present. We need to look at current farming practices and how they have changed over time to see if this might be helping lower nitrate levels.
Water Quality is a concern to everyone. The activists know this and are trying to grab attention by sowing fear. I grew up on a farm and I have been on hundreds of farms as a extension educator. I know that technology has changed rapidly in the last decade to help farmers make good decisions about their animals and crops without polluting the environment. They and their families live in that environment.
I will be following this situation closely along with your Representatives and with Congressman Finstad, to find out what is actually happening here and to see what we can do to make this a discussion based on data.