ASSATEAGUE COASTKEEPER HUDSON CAFO CASE – AN OVERVIEW
· During an October aerial patrol, the Assateague Coastkeeper (Coastkeeper) observed several large piles of waste material at Perdue’s Hudson Farm facility, a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation located in Worcester Country. Several of these piles were placed close to an open state owned drainage ditch that flowed from the property, carrying potentially contaminated waste water to the area’s streams and rivers, and eventually to the Bay. With at least one of these piles, the Coastkeeper observed what appeared to be man-made trenches directing polluted run-off from the pile directly into drainage ditch.
· Since October, ongoing water sampling by the Coastkeeper and analysis by a state certified lab has shown extremely unhealthy levels of bacteria (e.coli and fecal coliforms) and other pollutants (high levels of nitrogen / phosphorus / arsenic) in the ditch, just downstream of the Hudson Farm, that flows into the Pocomoke River. From aerial mapping and ground surveillance, it has been determined that this drainage ditch originates on the Hudson Farm, thereby discounting possible upstream sources of contamination. Water samples are taken according to EPA protocols by Coastkeeper, who is certified by State of Maryland to take water samples. Analysis of samples are done by a State certified lab, with the appropriate chain of custody protocols.
· In December, the Assateague Coastkeeper and Waterkeeper Alliance mailed a Notice of Intent (NOI) to sue Perdue Farms, Inc. and Hudson Farms, which is an 80,000 bird poultry CAFO located outside of Berlin, MD, for violations of the Clean Water Act. Under the Act, it is illegal to discharge pollutants into waterways unless done according to a state or federal issued permit. CAFO permits in Maryland do not allow discharges of any pollutants into waterways.
· After the NOI was filed, Perdue and MDE engaged in spreading “misinformation” about the Hudson Farm site. Initially, Perdue defended the site as not containing polluted waste material. MDE added to the misinformation when it told the press that it had tested the pile and declared it was Class A bio-solids from Town of Ocean City municipal wastewater treatment plant. MDE also claimed that, as a result of MDE’s directions, the waste pile had been removed from the farm and disposed of in a landfill, and that the trenches leading from the pile had been backfilled and Best Management Practices put in place to lessen runoff.
· MDE later admitted that its claim of “testing” was false; MDE’s inspections of the farm did not include any sampling of the piles or the water. MDE claims now that the farmer had repeatedly denied MDE the right to sample the pile or drainage ditches leading from the farm. In addition, MDE admitted that the pile, in fact, was still located on the farm and had simply been moved a short distance.
· The Assateague Coastkeeper has January aerial photographs of the Hudson Farm confirming that some steps were taken after the filing of the NOI to mitigate the polluted runoff from the waste piles. The pile appeared to have been moved to a different area of the farm and covered with a tarp.
· However, Coastkeeper and Waterkeeper Alliance had to file a Public Information Act request for information about the location of and material in the piles because MDE would not voluntarily disclose what was going on at the Perdue site, how long the state knew about it, and what (if any) testing was done.
· MDE has threatened Alan Hudson with a search warrant in order to gain access to the facility and take samples. We are waiting to learn if they actually sampled and what the results show. The Coastkeeper continues to pull water samples from the ditch and is still getting high readings for bacteria, nitrogen, phosphorus and arsenic.
· The sampling data collected to date is inconsistent with Hudson/Perdue’s position that the pile was exclusively bio-solids. At best, it was a mixed pile of manure and bio-solids. Hudson’s refusal to allow MDE to even sample the pile, particularly before it was moved, supports Coastkeeper’s position that the pile was either a manure pile or a mix of manure and bio-solids.
· This is an action against a single polluter – not every farmer on the Eastern Shore. The Hudson farm deserves this scrutiny. Not only are they polluting the Pocomoke River and the Chesapeake Bay but this farm is making a mockery of every farmer in Maryland who spends the money to implement good BMPs and try to do the right thing. The Hudson Farm is a point source and was making direct discharges of pollutants in clear violation of the Clean Water Act.
· The levels of bacteria (e.coli and fecal coliforms) and other pollutants (high levels of nitrogen / phosphorus / arsenic) are simply not safe. Proper implementation of effective NMPs would not result in the levels discovered flowing from Hudson’s Farm.
Kathy Phillips
Assateague Coastkeeper
Assateague Coastal Trust
443-235-2014
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