EDITORIAL: Why push bills unfriendly to environment?

House Bill 1494, proposed by Rep. Dave Wolkins, R-Warsaw, would weaken the public’s ability to have a say in development of controlled animal feeding operations, giant cattle-, hog- and poultry-raising centers that often include massive manure pits. The air and water pollution from those pits can be dangerous as well as unpleasant for neighbors.

At a hearing Wednesday, Wolkins amended his bill to make it clear that anyone who wants to open a new CAFO would still have to seek a permit from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. But several noxious elements remain in HB 1494.

Amazingly, the bill would remove an existing requirement that the public be notified of applications for permits to expand such facilities. “That’s very concerning for people who live near CAFOs that they are already having issues with,” Kim Ferraro, the Hoosier Environmental Council’s senior attorney, told the House Environmental Affairs Committee. “We know that there are facilities that sometimes double and triple in size. So if you’re not allowing neighboring landowners to have a say, you’re really cutting them out of the process.”