State lags on fixing farm pollution

October 24, 2010, Sunday

Star Tribune, Pg. 1A
LENGTH: 962 words
HEADLINE: State lags on fixing farm pollution;
MPCA doesn't know how many farms are out of compliance after Oct. 1 deadline.
BYLINE: BRAD SCHRADE

STAFF WRITER

Thousands of small farms may still be allowing animal manure to contaminate waters across Minnesota, a decade after a state environmental program was created to help curtail the hazardous practice.

The cleanup effort, which had a deadline of Oct. 1, has languished because of funding shortages, oversight problems by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the inability to get more farmers to participate. MPCA officials said last week they don't know how many farms still need fixing. Two years ago, the last time they checked, more than 3,000 farms in the state did.

At stake is the health of many Minnesota lakes and streams, where manure from so-called animal feedlots can carry disease-causing bacteria that make waters unsafe for swimmers, anglers and others. Untreated waste can also kill fish, harm aquatic plants, and create a chain of environmental problems.

"It's a lot of poop going into rivers and lakes," said Kris Sigford, water quality director with the nonprofit Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy. "If you've got bacteria counts, just animal manure, going into the streams, you're way over the standard of safety for swimming."

Defenders of the cleanup program admit that work remains, but say progress has been made. Government officials say the program has helped identify the worst polluters and clean them up first, while balancing the economic pressures on small farmers.

"I'd like to believe we've done as good of a job as you reasonably can in terms of prioritizing and getting these things fixed ... but there's still a ways to go," said Al Kean, chief engineer with the state Board of Water and Soil Resources, which has helped coordinate financing for cleanup work.

Some 4,900 farms signed up for the voluntary cleanup program, about 2,600 fewer than the original goal, according to state records.

In a 2008 statewide survey, the MPCA estimated 812 small farms had been fully fixed, and about 860 others had partial fixes. The survey estimated about 3,100 still needed work. Research from the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources shows the problem could be even bigger, estimating two years ago that more than 5,000 feedlots still needed environmental upgrades to meet this month's deadline. At the rate things are going, the agency said, it would take about 50 years to bring small cattle farms into compliance, while dairy farms would take about 15 years.

Trouble from the start

The MPCA'S oversight of feedlots has long been criticized. A 1999 legislative audit concluded that it was not doing a good job, faulting it for a lack of oversight. In some cases, auditors noted, nobody was catching small farms that violated water quality rules.

In 2000, the state's feedlot rules were overhauled and the cleanup program was created. It targeted small livestock farms, encouraging them to comply with tougher environmental standards and giving them a decade to spread costs for necessary upgrades. In exchange, the state waived penalties and fines for 10 years for small farms in the program.

But almost from the beginning, the cleanup program struggled. The MPCA, relying heavily on county feedlot officers to carry out work, had a goal of signing up 7,500 farms. They didn't come close, missing the mark by 2,600.

As goals and deadlines slipped away, the agency's reporting on the program broke down.

By October 2005, those who signed up for the program were supposed to have reduced farm runoff problems by 50 percent. But that June, an MPCA survey showed just under one in five farms had met the goal. The agency's survey also did not include data from at least 25 counties.

That same year, reports to the Legislature apparently dropped off. On the agency's website, its most recent legislative report on the feedlot program is dated 2004.

Rep. Jean Wagenius, DFL-Minneapolis, who chairs the House Environment and Natural Resources Finance Division Committee, said that reporting and accountability troubles are a recurring issue with the state Pollution Control Agency.

"That has been an extraordinarily difficult conversation to have with PCA,'' she said. "They just don't want to do it."

Cleanup has big price tag

The MPCA can't say where the cleanup program stands because for years it has not regularly tracked its progress. The 2008 survey was incomplete, with 14 of 55 county regulators not reporting detailed figures, and counties that MPCA directly regulates were not included in the report.

Recognizing there was a problem, several state agencies involved in the cleanup program last year agreed to waive enforcement actions for farmers making good-faith efforts to reduce runoff waste.

Agency officials in charge of the program hope to find out how many farms remain out of compliance later this fall, after county feedlot officers respond to the latest survey.

Randy Hukriede, one of two MPCA managers overseeing the feedlot program, said the agency will do "some additional research into our records as well to find out what final fixes were done to get a better idea of how many remain."

A significant problem with the cleanup program, according to county feedlot officers, has been a provision the Legislature created that guaranteed the government would pick up 75 percent of the costs for farm runoff fixes that are more than $3,000. In 2008, the Soil Resources Board estimated it would cost $180 million to cover the government's share. There's also been a shortage of technical assistance to help farmers implement the fixes.

"When it gets into paying for the upgrades, the small guy can't afford them," said Ted Reichmann, president of the Minnesota State Cattlemen's Association. "I think that's why a lot of producers are dragging their feet. The cost share that was promised is not coming through."

Brad Schrade - 612-673-4777

LOAD-DATE: October 26, 2010