Entries by Keith Schneider

Regulators Battle Oregon and Washington Farmers Over Limits to Farm Contamination

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An effort to extricate Pacific Northwest states from mammoth pollution.    By Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue SUNNYSIDE, Washington – Waters from the snowpack of the Cascade Mountains support orchards, vineyards and dairies here in the Yakima Valley of eastern Washington State, boosting a flourishing farm economy and helping to stock store grocery shelves nationwide. […]

Environmental Groups Face Off With EPA to Control Manure Pollution

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Ninth Circuit Appellate Court Hears Arguments to Compel Federal Action By Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue  September 14, 2024 – updated on October 15, 2024 For the third time in two decades the Environmental Protection Agency appeared in federal Appellate Court this week to defend its admittedly flawed approach to regulating the billions of pounds […]

U.S. Movement to Limit CAFO Pollution Emboldened by Michigan Court Ruling

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State Supreme Court strengthens authority to prevent mammoth tide of manure from contaminating water.     By Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue – August 13, 2024 A recent state court decision could transform how animal agriculture is regulated in Michigan, and potentially influence how other state and federal regulators oversee the industry’s mammoth waste stream, […]

Cattle Production That Enhances Water and Environmental Quality

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Michigan State’s Jason Rowntree is out to prove that ranching is an ecological asset.  By Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue – August 8, 2024 LAKE CITY, MI – Two facts about Michigan agriculture are scarcely recognized outside the fences and beyond the drainage ditches of the state’s 45,000 farms. The first: farming is among the […]

In Significant Decision For Michigan’s Waters, State Supreme Court Rules EGLE Has Authority To Do Its Job

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Decision sets stage for stemming mammoth tide of farm pollution in Great Lakes State. By Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue In a rare rebuke to the industrial farm sector, the Michigan Supreme Court this week ruled that state environmental regulators have full authority to require big livestock and poultry operations to improve their handling of […]

Despite $Billions Spent, Tide of Harmful Farm Pollutants Grows Ever Larger

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“Best management practices” are not impeding flow of farm nutrients into nation’s waters. 

Cancer-Related Disease and Deaths Spur Actions to Fight Farm Chemical Contamination in Corn Belt

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Keith SchneiderCircle of Blue’s senior editor and chief correspondent based in Traverse City, Michigan. He has reported on the contest for energy, food, and water in the era of climate change from six continents. Contact Keith Schneider http:/Circleofblue.org/about/staff/Keith

“We Can’t Sit Back” – Amid Polluted Water and Climbing Cancer Rates, Iowa Eyes Farm Chemicals

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Health authorities react to rampant fertilizer and pesticide contamination in water.