Tell DEQ: Grant the Factory Farm Air Pollution Petition!
Large dairy factory farms pollute our air, warm our climate, and threaten our health. They produce toxic air pollutants like ammonia that can cause chronic respiratory issues and even death. They fuel climate change by emitting huge amounts of methane.
Everyone deserves clean air and large dairy factory farms must be held accountable for their air pollution. That's why Columbia Riverkeeper teamed with members of the Stand Up to Factory Farms coalition and filed a petition urging the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to regulate air pollution from large dairy factory farms.
DEQ is currently accepting comments on our petition to regulate large dairy factory farms emissions.
Comments are due October 23 by 4 p.m. PT. Tell state regulators to protect our air from dirty factory farm pollution!
*DEQ is collecting comments on behalf of EQC
Note: Comments submitted to DairyAir.Petition@deq.oregon.gov
Dear Oregon Environmental Quality Commission,
I am writing to urge you to grant the petition to regulate dairy air emissions in the state of Oregon.
Large dairy factory farms emit ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and particulate matter, all of which can cause chronic respiratory disease and even death. Nationwide, air emissions from livestock production are responsible for 12,400 deaths per year - that's more deaths than caused by pollution from coal-fired power plants.
These air emissions also disproportionately impact vulnerable communities. Over one third of Oregon's dairy cows are confined in Morrow and Umatilla Counties, which have the state’s highest percentage of Latinx residents. The communities surrounding these factory farms are also low-income, and suffer some of the highest air pollution burdens in the state.
Large dairy factory farms also produce a staggering amount of planet-warming methane gas. In Oregon, agriculture is the leading source of methane emissions, and animal agriculture is responsible for over 3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent every year. The methane emitted by these farms contribute to a drier, hotter climate that is leading to catastrophic drought and wildfire conditions in Oregon.
Oregon lawmakers have long known the threat air pollution emitted by large dairy factory farms poses. In fact, a state-convened task force recommended Oregon take immediate steps to curb dairy air pollution as far back as 2008. Despite the urgent recommendation to act, large dairy factory farm air pollution remains virtually unregulated.
This is unacceptable. Everyone deserves clean air and large dairy factory farms must be held responsible for their air pollution. Please prioritize the health of Oregonians and our environment over the profits of factory farms by granting the dairy air emission petition.
The expansion of large-scale dairy operations in Oregon poses increasing risks to human health and the environment. Factory farms create colossal volumes of waste, pollute the air and water, contribute to climate change, threaten animal welfare and wildlife, and undermine the economic vitality of rural communities.
