"Large concentrated hog farms that send manure contamination into local waterways not only impact human health but threaten the existence of more than a dozen endangered species, according to a new study.
Researchers examined the overlap between endangered species and hog concentrated animal feeding operations, CAFOs, in the three highest hog-producing states — Iowa, Minnesota and North Carolina — and found that 17 aquatic species that are endangered, threatened, or under review for listing share watersheds with hog CAFOs. For 10 of these species, the shared watersheds are listed as “critical habitat,” meaning areas that are essential to the species’ survival.
The researchers say CAFO manure leaching into waterways further threatens these species given the increased nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen that CAFOs can discharge into water, which can slow species’ development and growth, impair feeding and spawning areas, and kill species by reducing oxygen and spurring algal blooms.
They allege that lax federal oversight means regulators in charge of protecting these species are not able to fully account for CAFO pollution, which can also harm human health via excessive nitrates in waterways and air pollution."
