(2 of 2)
Other states have passed strict CAFO regulations in the past three to four years, and at least four states have imposed a moratorium on any new CAFOs. But Texas is famous for not regulating much of anything, especially agriculture. While Bush was Governor, the Texas Environmental Protection Agency made matters worse. In 1998 the agency changed the rules so factory-feedlot operators could get one general permit for a region, and not have to get individual permits or provide site-specific information. In December 1998 the Natural Resources Defense Council issued a report detailing how cow manure in central Texas is poisoning drinking-water supplies by fouling underground aquifers as well as rivers, lakes and streams. Erath County sits directly on top of the recharge zones for the Paluxy and Trinity aquifers. That means even well water isn't safe. The problem was so bad by November 1999 that the state EPA reversed itself, and increased registration requirements for new CAFOs. There are suits and countersuits and a lot of hard feelings about this in Waco. The state legislature just voted $3 million for a clean-up program for a problem that shouldn't exist in the first place. The nice thing about Texas is that the problems here are so concrete, as it were. Let the chips fall where they may.
Molly Ivins is based in Austin and co-wrote the best-selling Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush