Learn about the dangerous issue of Coal Ash in Indiana.

According to the 2010 Impaired Waters list, Indiana now has more than 2,600 impairments that make our water bodies unsafe for drinking and recreation:

Some of these impairments can be easily prevented. This is why the Hoosier Environmental Council has created a watershed restoration toolkit to assist citizens, neighborhood groups and others in protecting their water quality.

New Regulations for Confined Feeding Operations

In response to the new US EPA guidelines for livestock operations, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) and the Office of the Indiana State Chemist (OISC) will develop new state rules for Confined Feeding Operations (CFOs) and Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs).  IDEM’s rules will address animal production facilities and OISC’s rules will address the distribution and use of manure as a fertilizer material.

The Hoosier Environmental Council believes these new rules must provide more effective protection for public health, air quality and water quality.  We have created a policy paper which gives a broad overview of the proposed rules, as well as a policy paper addressing the public health risks associated with proximity to CAFOs and a policy paper detailing the issue of pathogens in manure.

Out-of-state  Manure  From  Grand  Lake  St. Marys

Grand Lake St. Marys is Ohio’s largest inland lake at 12,700 acres. Straddling the Auglaize-Mercer County line between St. Marys and Celina, the lake was constructed in the mid-1800s to store water for the Miami-Erie Canal. In 1949, Grand Lake St. Marys was among the first state parks established in Ohio.

Over the years, the lake has become increasingly enriched by phosphates and nitrates from a number of man-made and natural sources. These nutrients have contributed to the decline of the lake’s water quality. Ohio EPA and various state and local partners have been working within the lake’s watershed for many years to achieve improvements along streams that feed the lake which in turn, will improve water quality in the lake.

80% of the Grand Lake watershed acreage is farmland, so agricultural run-off is a huge challenge to the water quality.  In Mercer County, OH, the amount of livestock has tripled in the last five decades, totaling 20,600 beef and dairy cattle, 80,000 hogs, 168,000 turkeys, and 3.75 million chickens.  Altogether, these livestock operations produce 629,504 tons of manure every year.

Poultry waste is not believed to be the primary impairment because 90% of the chicken manure and 75% of turkey manure (an estimated 90,000 tons in 2008) is sold out of state and exported by poultry litter brokers.  The remaining hog and dairy manure generally remains in the watershed since shipping is too costly.  To effectively utilize the nutrients this manure, it will have to be spread on 46,000-48,000 acres that need nourishment.

The Grand Lake watershed contains roughly 46,000-48,000 crop acres, but the soils are oversaturated with decades of manure and commercial fertilizers and they just don’tt need more nutrients.  The recommendations from Terry Mescher, an agricultural engineer with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, involve moving the hog and dairy manure out of the watershed and planting winter cover crops.  And therefore the solution is:  ship this manure to Indiana.

We need stronger water protections in place to keep this manure from contaminating our rivers and lakes the way it has contaminated Grand Lake.  The Hoosier Environmental Council has already testified on behalf of stronger regulations, increased setbacks from waterways, and regulation of satellite manure lagoons.