Kim
ENGL Elise 101
10/26/10
Fritz
Animal Wastes and its Consequences
The high demand for meat, milk, and eggs in the United States has increased over
the past century causing the livestock industry to evolve, forcing the production of animals
to become more efficient. Because of the increase in knowledge and the improvements in
technology, the poultry, swine, and cattle industries have industrialized significantly. As a
result, we discovered many different techniques to produce a lot of good quality animal
products in a cheap manner; this phenomenon is known as a concentrated animal feeding
operation (CAFO). However, the question is brought up when it comes to the disposal of
animal wastes. Ive seen farms while I went on road trips with my family, and they seemed
very clean. But because of my passion and curiosity for animals and the environment, I
always wondered, where does the manure go and how do farmers dispose them? Waste
disposal managements, such as pumping manure into lagoons for later use, are used, even
though they are environmentally unfriendly. Although our demands for dairy and meat are
satisfied, the protection of the environment is crucial and therefore, there is a need for
strong regulations of disposing animal excrement for the better of the environment, people
and animals.
Animal waste is one of todays major water pollutants. According to Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), 40% of US waters are polluted and are not swimmable for fish
(Cooper 653); the main reason is because of runoff. After storing the manure in the
lagoons, farmers make fertilizer out of it and spray it on their crop fields. The fertilizer is
full of phosphorus and nitrogen, and when farmers use too much of it, the nutrients seep
through the soil and end up in bodies of water (Cooper 966). The addition of nutrients into
streams and rivers, [lowers] dissolved oxygen in [water] to levels that cannot support
most animal life (Osterberg and Willinga 1704). One of the worst examples is the Gulf of
Mexico because it undergoes this process every summer (Osterberg and Willinga 1704).
Since runoff can travel long distances, livestock waste [empty] into the Gulf of Mexico,
[causing] a lifeless dead zone that spreads over an area that at times equals the state of
New Jersey (Cooper 955). Therefore, it is difficult to control runoff, and consequently is
tough to create a strong policy. Michael Hirshfield, a senior vice president of Chesapeake
Bay Foundation expresses this problem by saying that our regulatory systems are set up
[] where you've got a sewage-treatment plant or a factory that's discharging into one
little waterbody (Cooper 955-956). Therefore, he concludes, that allocating
responsibility is a real challenge to our sector-by-sector environmental laws(Cooper 955956). Not only can animal manure pollute the water, but also can pollute the other parts of
the environment.
During the process of runoff, the soil absorbs the animal waste, meaning that the
manure, in some cases, pollutes the soil as well. The quality of the soil can be improved by
animal waste because of its ability to [stabilize] soil aggregates preventing erosion,
[improve] soil structure promoting moisture retention and [] [correct] drainage problems
in wet areas (Martinez 5529). However, repeating this process can result to the buildup of
macronutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, and of heavy metals such as
copper and zinc (Martinez 5529). And, with the farmers constantly adding hormones, such
as testosterone and antibiotics in the livestocks feed, the animal waste that is full of
medicinal substances ends up in the soil. As a result, the farmers crops are full of
unwanted substances. The abundance of nutrients and hormones is not only bad for the
crops but also the animals that graze the fields and the balance of the environment
(Martinez 5529). Steiner explains that the pollution of the soil disrupts the nitrogen cycle
that goes around in the air, water and the soil. Therefore, the soil will less likely do its job
of [transforming] and [releasing] [] gaseous or soluble compounds (Martinez 5529).
In addition to the pollution of water and soil, the atmospheric pollution is greatly
affected by livestock manure. CAFO is known to house as many as hundreds to thousands
of animals in confined structures (Mallin and Cahoon 370) and because of this situation,
the production of poisonous air emissions such as methane is typical (Martinez 5529). The
emissions are detrimental to the environment because they are major greenhouse gases that
affect the earths atmosphere. Animal excrement also creates unpleasant odor, such as
ammonia, disturbing nearby communities (Weeks 25). Many groups have been forming
because of these problems and in Coopers article, Factory Farm, Cooper expresses by
writing, this groups such as [] the American Public health Association [] have sought or
imposed moratoriums or outright bans on new CAFO construction (Cooper 27). With the
water, soil, and the air polluted by livestock manure, the chance spreading diseases from
the waste to humans and animals increases.
There are many health concerns when it comes to managing animal manure
because of the lack of sanitation. Within the excrement, there are pathogenic
microorganisms such as Salmonella, Escherichia coli or E. coli, Camplylobacter and
bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) (Martinez 5531). Many of these pathogens are
transferred to animals because of their confined housing and the lack of sanitations in the
farms. Animal excrement falls through floor slats into a pit and their manure gets all over
the animals body; this can cause the animal to become distressed, making them more
susceptible to illnesses. The lack of sanitation can also lead to the contamination of dairy
and meat products, affecting the general public if these products are consumed. These
days, there have been many issues because of this situation. According to Cooper, although
the deaths from food-related sicknesses decreased, some innovations have caused new
problems, including the spread of antibiotic-resistant infectious agents and the proliferation
of hormones in meat (Cooper 29). In other words, because these viruses are resistant to
antibiotics, the chance of getting cured for the illness is slimmed. Moreover, communities
that are near CAFO suffer from air- and water- borne illnesses because of the
contamination done by CAFO (Cooper 29). Evidently, the diseases that are passed from
livestock excrements is harmful for the both the animal and humans and there is a
desperate need of solutions.
There are two types of solutions that can combat the issue of animal wastes
polluting the environment. One option is technological. For example, we can create a way
to store and separate manure before disposing them on land . According to Steiner, many
farmers already adopted equipment or techniques simplifying this operation such as
mixers and separators, decreasing obstruction problems and easing transportation (Steiner
5532). Some farmers that are concerned about the environment already have different
systems to reduce the amount of contamination such as creating biological systems for
liquids that effectively breakdown some of the organic load (Martinez 5532). Another
option to eliminate livestock waste is to adapt to the situation by creating constructed
wetlands, soil filtered systems, and nitrogen removing systems (Martinez 5534). For
example, a soil filter [can treat] the effluent of an anaerobic lagoon treating [animal]
manure (Martinez 5534). This mechanism consists of marl gravel that can remove half of
chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total suspended solids (TSS) (Martinez 5534).
All in all, there is a need for stronger regulations of disposing animal excrements
because the contamination of water, soil, and air, is detrimental to the environment and the
public health. For the past three decades, the management of animal waste has been
improving. For example, there are legislations that control the regulations of removing
livestock manure. However, these laws do not affect the CAFO, the main contribution to
polluting the environment. Nevertheless, there is still hope for the future. There are many
solutions that prevent the pollution of the environment. If the government continues to
tighten the regulations and farmers utilize technological and adapting methods to manage
disposal waste, there will be a much safer and cleaner environment.
Works Cited
Cooper, M. H. (2000, November 24). Water quality. CQ Researcher, 10, 953- 976.
Retrieved
October
11,
2010,
from
CQ
http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2000112400.
Researcher
Online,
Mallin, Michael A., and Lawrence B. Cahoon. Industrialized Animal Production-A Major
Source of Nutrient and Microbial Pollution to Aquatic Ecosystems . Population and
Environment 24.5 (2003): 369-385. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 11
Oct. 2010.
Martinez, Jos, et al. "Livestock waste treatment systems for environmental quality,
food safety, and sustainability." Bioresource Technology 100.22 (2009): 55275536. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 26 Oct. 2010.
Osterberg, David, and David Wallinga. "Addressing Externalities From Swine
Production to Reduce Public Health and Environmental Impacts."
American Journal of Public Health 94.10 (2004): 1703-1708. Academic
Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 11 Oct. 2010.
Weeks, J. (2007, January 12). Factory farms. CQ Researcher, 17, 25-48.
Retrieved
October
11,
2010,
from
CQ
http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2007011200.
Researcher
Online,