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Missouri Guardrails Organize for Water Quality and Property Rights [1]
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Date: 2024-07-25
The beauty of the Ozarks has become a little more in question due to a lack of protection around property rights.
That’s the perspective of Dan Chiles, Dave Coonrod and Kathy Christy, and it’s based in part due to the 2019 removal of local control of confined animal feeding operations, otherwise known as CAFOs.
As it stands now, Missourians could be informed of the request for a permit for these CAFO operations, which may include thousands of animals – but, aside from protesting, have little ability to stop one from popping up next door, bringing concern around sights, smells and potential water pollution.
“If you’re trying to have an organic farm, it’s gone,” said Chiles. “If you’re trying to do anything small-scale that needs fresh water and a good life – so people in your house can stand to go outside instead of being horrified by the flies and the stench – then people need to wake up to the fact that these laws have changed, and we need to reverse those laws.”
Those fears led the trio to form Missouri Guardrails, a grassroots group dedicated to educating and drum-beating about the pending disaster that they say is threatening Missourians property rights and clean water with no recourse.
“I think if something’s not in their backyard, they tend to not want to take any action,” said Christy of the challenge of proactive change. “I think that’s what we’re trying to do: Inform as many people as we can to combat the issue before it is too late – for our tourism industry and everything else.”
Call to Action
The clean-water cause is one close to the hearts of the nonprofit’s leaders. All three graduated in the same 1971 high school class in Springfield, Missouri’s third-largest city which – despite its population of nearly 170,000 – is surrounded by largely rural landscapes.
Christy long worked in leadership at the local community college; Coonrod was a county commissioner for more than 20 years; and Chiles, a farmer, formerly served on the Springfield City Council and local utilities company board. I met the latter two on the board of a local water advocacy group of which I am also a member.
Water is abundant in the Missouri Ozarks. According to the National Wild and Scenic River System, Missouri has approximately 51,978 miles of river throughout the state. (Photo by Kaitlyn McConnell)
Over a recent lunch, the three talked of the 2019 Senate Bill 391, which was a no-pun-intended watershed moment in the fight for clean water. Previously, counties had the ability to create local health review boards that could decide parameters around CAFOs, the group’s leaders said.
“They made local rules – we did in Greene County,” said Coonrod. “We had a whole section on how many animal units are allowed, and we correlated it with what the state requires.”
The bill-turned-law, however, effectively eliminated local decision-making on whether CAFOs would be a good local fit.
“First-class counties and those with zoning provisions could also set standards for pollution, nuisances, set-backs, inspections and public comments,” said Chiles. “SB 391 removes these protections along with any concerns that might come from their local health department.”
Missouri Guardrails’ concerns over what that means for local property values, water, and quality of life are based in part by what they’ve seen in Iowa.
“That’s what got us frightened in the first place,” Coonrod said.
The state that shares Missouri’s northern border has seen a significant increase in CAFOs over the last 33 years – going from 789 in 1990 to 4,000 in 2023, notes a report from the Iowa Environmental Council.
“The growth in CAFOs has exponentially increased the animal manure, urine, and wastewater in the state, which is contributing to Iowa’s water pollution issues,” the advocacy agency’s report said. “The amount of livestock manure Iowa now generates is equal to the waste produced by 168 million people, or half the entire U.S. population.”
Floating is a popular draw for visitors to Missouri’s rivers, including on the North Fork in rural Ozark County. (Photo by Kaitlyn McConnell)
Proponents of the law, such as the Missouri Farm Bureau, said the new rules would improve “scientific” animal management, which would keep water cleaner. (The Farm Bureau declined my request for an interview.)
But waste has to go somewhere. To be clear, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources does have a process for permitting these operations, as well as requirements about how waste is disbursed. Yet it also acknowledges on its website that the federal Clean Water Act “identifies CAFOs as possible point sources for water pollution.”
The bottom line: Things don’t always go as they should. The potential increase in the number of CAFOs in the state with a delicate system of caves and easy access to groundwater reserves is an untested experiment – and could create issues Missouri Guardrails leaders would like to help the state avoid.
Real-Life Ramifications
There is an example of concern closer to home, too. In the southwest corner of Missouri, the stench of meatpacking sludge storage lagoons caused such great distress that it got attention from the legislature.
According to the Missouri Independent, legislation – which was signed by the state’s governor in July – requires the facilities to obtain water pollution permits, be a certain distance from nearby homes, adhere to specific design requirements and monitor groundwater in certain areas.
In addition to larger rivers and streams, small creeks abound throughout the Missouri countryside. (Photo by Kaitlyn McConnell)
“We pushed for additional protections, but even without them, this is a win for Missouri,” Chiles said. “The success of this bill follows grass-roots outrage and reminds us that if residents care about their land and water and make an effort to speak up, we can make progress.”
Potential pollution from CAFOs could affect a disproportionate share of rural residents who rely on their own wells for water.
“In some parts of the state, Missourians rely almost exclusively on groundwater sources of drinking water, and groundwater contaminants like nitrates, E. coli and other bacterial pathogens may go undetected because they usually do not affect the color or odor of water,” notes information from Missouri Coalition for the Environment’s website.
“Private water sources are not regulated … and an estimated 1.4 million Missourians pump drinking water from private wells. If your drinking water comes from a private well, you should have it tested today – especially if you [live] near a CAFO.”
If contamination is found, the individual owner is responsible for addressing the issue, Guardrails leaders said.
Stockton Lake, a man-made reservoir that is a popular recreation destination, is also considered a source of drinking water. (Photo by Kaitlyn McConnell)
“If your well water goes bad and you have to put in a remediation system, you could easily spend $10,000,” Chiles said. “So are we all supposed to spend $10,000 per farmhouse to protect ourselves against these meat factories? That, to me, is oppressive.”
The equation is a little different for those on municipal systems, but it still presents a potential challenge.
“There is a concern about CAFOs,” said Roddy Rogers, executive director of SWMO Water, an agency that has a mission of securing water resources for municipalities in the southwest Missouri region. “We can treat it, but the more you have to treat, the more costs, and it’s just more difficult. It’s better for everybody to stay ahead of it and keep it clean from the source.”
What Missouri Guardrails Is Doing
Since their start, Missouri Guardrails has made the rounds with local leaders and companies. Their goal is to increase awareness and change policy. To date, they have met with “well beyond” 100 people – from individuals to companies to civic organizations – to spread the word. Which, admittedly, has been both successful and challenging.
“Everybody’s in a silo,” said Chiles. “We’ve identified like 100 different organizations in Missouri alone that profess to care about water quality, but they all speak from their silo. They all speak with their voice, or their particular concern. Whereas these meat factories are extremely well organized.”
In addition to its life-giving power, water offers scenic beauty. Just one example is at Vera Cruz, a water access spot located in Missouri’s Douglas County. (Photo by Kaitlyn McConnell)
Missouri Guardrail leaders said they hope their work can have an impact beyond Missouri.
“Our intention is to make the fight here, and then export it,” said Chiles. “Pass it on to the people in Iowa and say, ‘There is hope.’ You can fight back. You can change the laws. You can do the same thing in Nebraska; for all the people who have suffered. This fight starts in the Ozarks.”
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